


Growing Up Is Optional

by CrimsonShades



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Bill is a manipulative asshole, F/M, Future Fic, Human!Bill, I've no idea, It's getting dark in here, Kinda anyway, Masochism, Oral Sex, Roughness, Somebody light the way, Summer Romance, Yeah like I know what I'm doing here, no really, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-05
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-02-24 06:31:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2571611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrimsonShades/pseuds/CrimsonShades
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten years have passed since Dipper and Mabel have spent a summer of mystery and enchantment, but not so much romance in the ol' town of Gravity Falls.<br/>Now they're back in black, mostly to bring back some memories and reconnect with old friends, even though each twin brought a book with them.<br/>And they have been expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Things To Look Forward To

**Author's Note:**

> Okay.  
> So.  
> That happened.  
> Just an introduction, to get you into the setting. Few minor plot points. If I even manage to cram a plot into this, that is.  
> Ummm. Feedback?

The mysteries were endless. Unfortunately, the summer was not.  
So when Mabel and Dipper had to return home, they left not only their good friends, but also a number of unanswered questions.  
Back in California, normality found its way back into the twin's lives.  
A few weeks later, a massive power outage hit almost all of Oregon and especially Gravity Falls. Apparently it had been caused by a man with a banjo and a tattooed head, invading a main power plant and single-handedly doing massive damage to the main reactior. Surely he would have destroyed it completely if he hadn't died of the electric shocks before that. It took weeks to fix the damage and until then, the people of Oregon had to made due with a minimum of electricity. Of course the twins, who exchanged a worried look at the description and surveillance camera video material of the culprit, but then chalked it up to his menstal instability that was, no doubt, caused by years of "unseeing" things and hardly their fault, -besides, who knows what could have gotten into the former leader of the Blindeye Society - called their Grunkle to check on him. He assured them that he was alright and dealing, no problem, no need to worry, and to stop wasting his precious time that he could put to much better use pulling some tourists over the barrel. Soos, who was then handed the phone to give Stan the hand freedom to accomplish just that, told Dipper that his Grunkle did look devastated when he heard of the power outage and he seemed to have aged a couple years over night, just like that. "As if something really big he'd been working on had suddenly been put to waste, you dig?" he joked.  
Of course Dipper pondered about that for a while, although not long, as schoolwork was soon demanding most of his attention and so was another mystery that kept them too busy to return to the place "just west of weird": Puberty.  
It came, saw and conquered.  
There was hardly any time to concentrate on the mysteries of the Journal that Dipper had brought back home with him when your head is swirling with hormones.  
Of course they never forgot that wondrous summer and all the enigmatic things they'd seen. And of course there were some occassions that drew them back to that enchanted little town, albeit only for a short time.  
When Waddles died, Mabel and Dipper returned to the place she had first got him, to commemorate the pig.  
When a massive earth quake struck the Mystery Shack and Stan was hospitalized during the incident. Soos found him collapsed in the break room, in front of the defective snack machine, muttering something about "everything is lost for good now" and "it's over" before he passed out. However, Stan was tough. He recovered quickly and was happy to see his favorite niece and nephew visit him as often as they could.  
All in all, ten years had passed when Dipper and Mabel returned to the Shack to finally spend a summer there again.


	2. A Jumpscare From The Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you want some exposition?  
> Some information through a text?  
> But if you sit through that stuff  
> we're getting somewhere next.  
> Sort-of-plot establishment.

"Dipper! Dude! It's good to see you!"  
"Soos! Is it really you?"  
The young man beamed brightly as he was found by his best friend just as he got off the bus. A few tourists who had also been on that bus took pictures as the two reunited friends exchanged their secret high-five.  
"Wow." Dipper laughed. "Feels like I'm twelve again."  
"Some things never change, man." Soos smiled that same old goofy smile that might as well be trademarked.  
"Did somebody say Mabel?" Dipper's sister stood in the door of the bus, much to the dismay of some tourists who wanted to get out, her arms wide open, as if she was ready to give the whole world, or at least the whole town a hug.  
"No, Mabel. Nobody said that." Dipper sighed.  
"Liar! You just did!" With a wide grin, showing off her metal-free teeth, she got off the bus to join her brother and his friend. "What are you doing out here? C'mon, let's go inside! That's where the party's at!"  
"What... What party?" Soos suddenly looked very nervous. "Who said anything about a party? 'Cause I didn't!" He then quickly grabbed their luggage and pulled it inside the Shack. The laughing twins followed him.  
"Told you there was a party." Mabel whispered to her brother, grinning triumphantly.  
"It's a "Welcome back"-banner, the same one we used when Grunkle Stan got out of the hospital, and some free drinks." Dipper whispered back. "You can hardly call that a party."  
"Well, duh, cause the party don't start till I walk in." Mabel giggled and stepped into the room before yelling: "Now it's a party!"  
Dipper sighed as she ran off to look for Stan.  
"Some things never change, do they?"  
The Gift Shop sure didn't. The same old cheap junk, some even looked like it hadn't been dusted off since the twins last left town. Dipper leaned against the counter and smiled at the tourists that were oogling the stuff as if it were truly mysterious. They wouldn't know a mystery if it bit their leg off, he thought to himself and glanced at his backpack that contained the Journal. Maybe now he would find the key to unravel its secrets, the secrets of this town.  
"It took me ten years to get back here." He mumbled to himself as he stared at the ceiling.  
"And isn't it just great?!" Mabel joined her brother again. She had company.  
"Hey there, kiddo. It's good to have you back." Stan grinned.  
"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper could hardly restrain himself from giving his grand uncle a hug. He mostly did that because he was older now and such an outburst of emotion wasn't fit for an adult like himself, but also because he knew how much Stan disliked such public displays of affection.  
"You've, uh, grown since I last saw you." His Grunkle made an attempt at small talk.  
"You hardly look any older since I last saw you!" Mabel beamed. Stan looked at her, as if he couldn't decide whether to scold her or to ignore her entirely, but then he chose the third option and laughed.  
"Some things really never change, do they? Same with the space in this old Shack. You can stay, sure, but you better still get along, cause I only got that small attic room for the two of you to split. Think you can do it?"  
Mabel and Dipper exchanged a brief look. It had been a while since they shared a room.  
"Sure!" She then said and he nodded in agreement. They were twins. They'd get along.  
"I'll bring your stuff up there." Soos gladly offered.  
"Thanks, man." Dipper smiled.  
"Make yourselves at home. Drinks are on the house. But only for today!" Stan put his fake eye patch on, adjusted his fez and grinned. "As for me, I'll be making some suckers bleed." With that, he walked towards the tourists and welcomed them to his humble Shack.  
Dipper laughed as he rolled his eyes.  
"Can you believe he's still wearing that weird fez-hat?" Mabel asked.  
"No. As much as I can't believe anyone's still falling for his dumb tricks and fake attractions."  
"Speaking of falling, don't look now, but ...No, wait, you gotta look, cause I wanna see your face when you do."  
"What? Mabel-" Dipper turned towards the entrance, where his sister had been pointing, and his breath caught before he could even think of finishing the sentence.  
"Wendy?"  
"What up, dudes!" The red-haired woman immediately spotted the two of them and made her way through the tourists.  
"May-may!"  
"Wen-wen!"  
The two exchanged some sort of secret high five of their own. Then they laughed.  
"Still wearing sweaters?"  
"Hey. Never change a winning team. And me and my sweaters are just that!"  
Wendy laughed again. "It's good to see that at least some people are sticking with their style." She then turned to Dipper. "Missing that Pine Tree hat, dude!"  
"Oh, yes, that, I just, um, I've grown out of it. It's a shame, I know. I really liked it, too."  
"Nah, never mind that now. Hey, you're taller than me!"  
Dipper smiled sheepishly, nodding his head absently. He was barely listening to a word she was saying. For now, he was just completely captivated by the beautiful woman she had become.  
"Say, Wendy." Mabel grinned mischievously. "How's boys?"  
"Ugh, don't get me started. I just broke up on some jerk. Turns out he was cheating on me. The worst."  
"Soooo. You're single now?" Mabel's grin widened and she nudged her brother. The red-haired woman didn't seem to notice.  
"Yep."  
Dipper quickly grapped one of the baseball caps that were hanging nearby to hide his furiously blushing face. Coincidentally, it had a Pine Tree on it.  
"Hey! You better pay for that!" Stan shouted from the back of the shop and the young man hastily got out his wallet and slammed a few bills on the counter.  
"Now you're looking like yourself again." Wendy grinned, before turning to Mabel.  
"Well, I told you about me, so it's your turn now. How's you and relationship-stuff?"  
"Oh, you know how it goes. Boys love me. I'm adorable."  
"Her longest relationship lasted three months. She's mostly just been having minor crushes that broke up on her after a while." Dipper interrupted.  
"You didn't have your first girlfriend until High School!" Mabel immediately shouted, her cheeks reddened with anger and embarrassment.  
"Oh, hit a nerve there." Wendy quietly stated.  
"What's that have to do with anything?" Dipper replied to his sister.  
"Okay, sure, it could go better for me at the moment. My last boyfriend wasn't exactly a dream come true."  
"He was a drug dealer, Mabel."  
"I thought he was a vampire, okay?!"  
"Dudes, dudes!" Wendy quickly got between them. "Don't fight over boys. Or girls. That's stupid."  
"At least we both had a decent date for the prom, right?" Dipper tried to reconcile.  
Mabel looked at him, sighed and nodded in agreement. "Right. Let's not fight, bro-bro. This summer's supposed to be great, remember? Second chances everywhere!"  
"Speaking of second chances, Mabel, you do know that Gideon Gleeful recently got out of jail?" Wendy asked.  
"He did? Ugh." Mabel shuddered with disgust. "No second chance for that creep! He tried to destroy my family and he sent my creepy letters."  
"You didn't even get half of them. Stan used the majority to keep the fireplace warm when the power went out."  
"Good!"  
"Whoa. That was so long ago. Feels like only yesterday." Now it was Wendy's turn to shudder. "Man, I feel old now."  
"You're not old! You're-" Beautiful, was what Dipper wanted to say, if it hadn't been for Soos.  
"I brought your luggage into your room. Wanna unpack now and hit the town later, like back in the day? Only that it's gonna be completely different this time, cause you're so much bigger now."  
"Absolutely! I called Candy, she's gonna meet me with Grendy later! Gotta hurry!" Mabel sped through the shop and upstairs.  
"Heh. Girls. Am I right?" Dipper grinned awkwardly, tipped his hat slightly and followed his sister, although at a much slower pace.  
"I really feel like I'm twelve again." Mabel stated as soon as he entered the room.  
"Did you bring posters of your current celebrity crush?" Dipper joked.  
"What? No!" She quickly exclaimed, stuffing something poster-shaped back inside one of her bags.  
They then quietly unpacked for about half an hour, putting clothes in wardrobes, pushing bags under begs, things like that.  
"Do you think I might get a shot at Wendy this time?" Dipper asked, as he examined his reflection in a slightly cracked mirror that was inside one of the wardrobed, tipping his cap and trying to look self-confident.  
"All of my favorite moldy spots on the ceiling are still there! There's even more of them now!" Mabel, who had laid back on her bed for a moment exclaimed in response.  
"I mean, I've grown up and I've matured. ...Right? I, I should at least ask her out. I mean, the "half your age plus seven"-rule includes me now. I probably should just go for it and stop talking about it. Stop talking. Just do it."  
"Dipper, you need to learn to let go. I've given up on my dreams of a perfect summer romance long ago. Maybe you should try to move on, too. There's many fish in the sea. I for one am going to have fun this summer! Complete boy-less fun!"  
"You're gonna latch on to the first guy who shows any sign of interest in you." Dipper responded.  
Mabel laughed. "You bet." She glanced at the backpack next to her bed. It contained the scrapbook she had made during their first summer here. In it was still the list of those failed romances. She was determined to do a better job at romance this year.  
But besides pictures of gnomes, child psychos and mermen married to manatees, there were also lots and lots of pictures of...  
She then let out a deep sigh. "This place reminds me of Waddles."  
Dipper immediately turned to his sister, knowing how sensitive this topic still was to her. "Are you alright?"  
"Sure." She nodded. "I just need a moment. It's hard to believe he's gone, you know. I mean, it's been a few years already, but being here just brings back the memory and it's just so painful...!"  
"Hey. I'm here for you. And so is everyone else."  
"Thanks, Dip. I'll just take a quick walk to distract me, kay kay?" She got off her bed and walked out of the room.  
"Be careful!" He yelled after her.  
"You know me!"  
"That's why I'm telling you to be careful!"  
He heard the door slam closed and shook his head. "But telling me to move on." He picked his backpack with the journal up and started to look around the place. Just to get in touch with things again. Reliving some memories.  
He examined the attic he had spent so many hours brooding over mysteries like the true identity of Mabel's first boyfriend or the password to that laptop.  
"I guess some things don't change."

"These trees haven't changed at all." Mabel muttered to herself. "Or maybe they have, but it's impossible to tell, since they're trees. It's hard to tell them apart." She leaned against one of them and took a deep breath. Feeling the inflexible trunk of a tree behind her gave her a feeling of comfort and made her feel less alone.  
The sky was cloudy, but it was still kinda warm outside. Mabel wrapped her arms around herself, feeling the wool of her sweater that had a yellow spiral and surrounded by a rainbow-y pattern on it. Her love of sweaters might not have left her, but she had grown out of the electric ones and the silly symbols. Literally. She would still wear them if she could fit her head into one of those.  
While she could feel herself slowly calming down again, she did not notice that she was being watched.

"This place is still empty. Nothing here." Dipper said, looking around.  
Then he heard something. It sounded like a cackle.  
"Mabel?" He asked.  
There it was again. Just slightly louder.  
"Wendy? Soos? ...Stan?"  
There was no one there. Yet the noise kept getting louder. Or... Dipper gulped. Closer. It was getting closer.  
He shuddered and glanced at the stairs, but refused to run from this unknown danger. He was an experienced paranormal investigator! Sort of, anyhow. He had seen more mystical things in one summer than most people got to see in a lifetime. He was not scared.  
The triangular window opened and a strong wind got in. It nearly blew Dipper's hat off his head and he had to grab it to keep it in place. A box with chalk that had been on the window sill fell down and a piece of chalk rolled right in front of the young man's feet.  
The disembodied cackling got louder, echoing from every wall.  
Dipper looked around, panic rising inside him, his heart beating painfully fast against his ribcage as if trying to get out and away. Something he should be trying to do, too, but he was frozen in place. As if he had no control over his legs.  
"Well, well, well." A voice replaced the cackling. "Back in black and back in big. You've grown, Pine Tree!"  
"Pine- What. Bill!" Dipper recognized the voice as well as the ominous nickname.  
Another laugh resounded in response.  
"Show yourself!" The young man demanded.  
A triangular shadow flashed over the walls.  
"It's good to have you back, Pine Tree." The demon said as Dipper's eyes widened in shock. His hands started twitching involuntary. He could feel himself losing control over them, too. They felt strange and cold, as if they were not really part of his body any more. And that strange feeling started spreading.  
"It's good to have you back."

"Guess who's back!"  
Mabel frowned before the tiny creatures jumped out the bushes and she found herself surrounded.  
"You forgot about us, didn't you?" Jeff, the leader of the gnomes stepped up. "But we never forgot you. Mabel! You _will_ become our queen!"  
"What? No. We've been over this. I'm not going to marry you! Or any other one of you."  
"It's not like we're leaving you a choice, really." Jeff smiled. "Your brother's not with you. You might as well just give up."  
"Are you saying that I can't defend myself without my brother?" She snapped.  
The gnome shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "Basically." He then pointed at the young woman. "Get her!"  
Mabel didn't even have time to scream as the creatures tackled her. No matter how much she struggled, how many gnomes she managed to shake off, there were two, if not three, to take their place. It was only a matter of time before she found herself tied up and on the ground.  
"She's grown up." One of the gnomes stated. Another one laughed. Mabel knew that type of laugh. It sent shivers down her spine. As did the tiny hand on her thigh.  
"Shmebulock! No! Shoo!" Jeff yelled and the tiny hand disappeared.  
"Please. Jeff..." Mabel muttered.  
"Don't worry, honey, this'll be over soon. Because you'll be getting used to it real quick, believe me." The gnome smiled as he slapped a band-aid on her mouth to keep her from loudly objecting.  
This was definitely not how she had imagined to spend the summer.  
She felt a tear run down her cheek as the leader of the gnomes, that were hungrily eying her like a piece of meat, and coincidentally, she was tied up like a rolled roast, too, took out that little box, snapped it open and once again presented the ring that would bind her to these tiny creatures forever.


	3. Stranger Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welp, moving on.  
> Hitting da club because it's relevant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obvious plot twist is obvious.  
> I suck at Mabel, don't I.

Tied up, on the ground, unable to move and surrounded by an army of gnomes.  
A dream come true.  
Only that it wasn't Mabel's dream. Yet she was about to be married to all one thousand or so of these creatures. She kept struggling, but it was to no avail and she knew it, too.  
Still. She couldn't just surrender herself, her summer and her entire life to those tiny men. Being a queen, nice and well, but they were living in a democracy. This wasn't even the first time someone had wanted to make her their queen.  
And of course, weird things like that would only happen in this even weirder town of Gravity Falls. She loved the place and had really wanted to get back here to relive some memories, so why did this have to happen?!  
She felt tears in her eyes and had to close them.  
"Okay, boys, hold her down. I'm putting the ring on her fingAAAAH!" A scream.  
Her eyes smacked open, panicky darting around, looking for the cause of the gnome's panic. Still, she had just been a split second too late with the opening of her eyes, and missed a wave of energy passing through, that had briefly drained all color from the world. It additionally caused panic among the gnomes, that were now backing away. A man stepped out from behind a tree, spinning a black cane, his lips puckered and obviously trying to whistle, although the only things that came out were a pathetic impression of wind and spit. So he stopped it and curved his lips into a confident smile instead.  
"Attacking lovely ladies in broad daylight again, I see."  
Jeff stormed past his shivering comrades and angrily shook his fist at the man, who was towering above him.  
"What's it to you, Ci-"  
He was cut off mid-sentence as the man swung his cane like a golf club and sent the gnome flying. He disappeared behind the treetops and the other gnomes retreated without any sign of order.  
The man put a hand to his forehead and watched them disappear. It wasn't until their screaming had died down, that he turned to Mabel, who had no idea how to respond, and untied her. He then took her hand and pulled her back on her feet.  
"Thank you." She muttered, still taken aback by the entire situation.  
He waved it off. "Don't mention it."  
She used the awkward silence that followed his statement to take a closer look at him. He was tall, taller than her, and slender. His hair was blond and mostly hidden under a top hat. He was dressed very curiously, anyway. His outfit was dapper, sure, a suit, but also very outlandish. The suit was yellow. Black dress pants, black shoes, that were shining, a black bow tie, black gloves and, weirdest of all, an eyepatch.  
"Wow" was everything she was able to comment.  
"Oh, you like it?" he asked, looking down, "it's brand new."  
"The suit?"  
"That, too." He grinned. "Are you sure you're alright? You're shaking." He pointed the cane at her and she just now realized that her legs were truly feeling a bit weak.  
"Oh. I guess I am."  
"Understandable. It must've been quite a shock." He snickered briefly. "Hey, if you feel like fainting, want me to catch you?"  
"That... That would be nice." Mabel replied. She had no idea what she was doing, but she did realize that she was feeling dizzy. Just now, the shock of what had happened truly kicked in. She had been alone and in danger and if this random stranger hadn't dropped by and saved her, she would be married to an army of midgets now.  
"Who are you?" she asked.  
He smiled gently, snapped a finger and everything suddenly went black. Mabel's legs collapsed under her weight and just as she was about to hit the floor, she could feel arms, warm arms, his arms, presumably, wrap around her. Her last impressions before everything was consumed by darkness.

Dipper stared blankly ahead. He had no idea how much time had passed since his body had suddenly started disobeying him, but considering how dark it was getting outside, it must have been a while. He didn't dare look at the pentagram his hands had drawn on the floor against his will. He had no idea what the runes meant, that were framing it. Had he summoned something? Empowered something? He just didn't know.  
His hand smarted, but he refused to look there as well. He had bitten it during the strange ceremony, until he had felt blood gush into his mouth. He spat it out and coughed, struggled not to throw up from the metallic taste and the panic churning his gut, his arm had extended and some drops of his blood had fallen into the pentagram. Then, there had been a bright light, an echoing cackle and the spook had suddenly been over.  
Dipper had collapsed near the pentagram and not moved since. Even though he knew he could. The strange feeling had subsided, his control over his body was restored.  
Only the sound of heavy steps on the stairs could snap him out of it.  
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"  
"Mabel?" He got up and peeked into the room they shared. "You're back?" He tried to hide his injured hand behind his back, not wanting to worry her before he had figured out what this whole incident had been about.  
"Can't talk, Dipper! No time!"  
He was greeted by her throwing her sweater into his face.  
"What-" He pulled it off and just saw her pull down another one. "What's wrong?"  
"I'm gonna meet with Candy and Grenda in an hour and I still gotta get downtown! I lost so much time in these woods!" She slammed the wardrobe doors open and looked at herself in the mirror.  
"Did something happen?"  
"Does this sweater make me look fat?"  
"Mabel..."  
"You're right, it doesn't. It makes me look fabulous!" She spurted to one of her bags, almost tore it open and grabbed a brush that she then pulled through her hair.  
"What happened?"  
"The gnomes, Dipper! They tried to marry me! Again! But then some guy came and rescued me and I fainted and when I came to I realized that I was running out of time! Ow!" She glared at a knot in her hair and ripped it out. Dipper flinched at the sight of that.  
"Wait, someone rescued you?"  
"Yup."  
"Who was it?"  
She shrugged her shoulders and went through a small box that was filled with earrings and the like.  
"I dunno, never seen him before."  
"And you said you fainted?"  
"Yup. Weird, isn't it? Things like that normally happen to old ladies. I never fainted when these creepy things happened, so I've no idea why it happened now."  
"Maybe you were just really, _really_ scared?"  
"Dipper, those were gnomes. Okay, I was scared, but I've been scared before." She put on a pair of creoles and looked at herself in the mirror again.  
He shrugged it off. "I'm just sorry I wasn't there. I shouldn't have let you wander off on your own. I mean, we know how dangerous this place can be."  
"Aw, shucks, bro-bro. Things like that happen." She smiled. "And you can't always be by my side, holding my hand. We're grown up, remember?"  
He sighed. "Yeah, I do. I just... I guess I just kinda miss the good old times, you know." As he looked up, he found her standing right in front of him, smiling a wide, braceless smile.  
"We'll always be twins. Nobody can take that away from us. You'll always be my bro-bro."  
"Thanks, Mab-"  
"Boop."  
She then turned to the mirror and hiked her skirt up.  
"Seriously?"  
"Oh come on! Doesn't it look much better like this?"  
"No way, that's too short. Who knows what kinda creeps you're gonna run into."  
She chuckled. "Alright, fine." She pulled it down again. "Yep. Much classier. Classy."  
"Totally."  
"I'm just looking so forward to seeing Grenda and Candy again! I haven't seen them in forever! I wanna know what happened in their lives!"  
"Where are you meeting anyway?"  
"In a club they said was popular."  
"Why?"  
She turned around to look at him. Dipper noticed she had applied make-up. Whenever had she put that on?  
"Dipper." She looked him dead in the eyes. "What do people go to clubs for?"

"Music!" Mabel could hear it pulsing through the night, before she even got out of the cab.  
"That's right, Ma'am. The phenomenom you're currently experiencing is called music. Music is basically just soundwaves-"  
She interrupted the man by pushing some dollar bills into his hand and jumped out of the cab.  
"And people!" There was a long line of people, trying to get in. Past the bouncer, a buffed man almost as wide as he was tall, and to the flashing, colorful lights that were shining through a gap in the door. Every time he opened it to let someone in, the music briefly got much louder and the lights so much brighter, lighting up the night.  
She glanced past the line. So many faces, most of them unfamiliar. Chatting, waiting to get in and join the party. She couldn't see Candy and Grenda anywhere though.  
Just as she was going to turn to the bouncer, she spotted a blotch of yellow on the other side of the street.  
"Hey!" She ran to him, forcing a car to come to a screeching halt. She ignored the driver applying the horn at her irresponsibility as she stepped in front of the man who had saved her earlier today, caught her and put her down in the shade of a tree after she had randomly fainted. He was wandering around, seemingly aimless, at least that's what she had concluded from the way he was looking around. "Remember me?"  
His face lightened up. "Shooting Star."  
"Where?" She looked at the sky, but could hardly see past the clouds. "Aw, I missed it."  
He snickered.  
"So, what're you doing here?" She asked.  
"Oh, you know. Just ...stuff."  
"Hey, I'm gonna go in there," she pointed at the throbbing place,"to meet with some friends of mine, wanna come?"  
He glanced suspiciously at the club, but then turned to her and shrugged his shoulders. "Sure."  
"Great!" She smiled, grabbed his arm and dragged him with her. "Hey!" She then greeted the bouncer. "I'm Mabel."  
"Good for you." He responded, then pointed at the end of the line.  
"But my friends are in there! 'Least I'm pretty sure they are."  
"Get in line, wait your turn and find out."  
She glared at the man. "You're making a big mistake."  
"Oh yeah?" He grinned.  
"You've just made yourself a very powerful enemy" she continued, not noticing how he glanced past her, directly into the eye of her company, that was glowing a soft shade of blue.  
"On second thought, get in." The bouncer suddenly muttered, stepped aside and opened the door to let them pass.  
"I knew you'd come to your senses." Mabel grinned victoriously and walked inside, her savior following close behind. He didn't forget to flash a sweet smile at the people who still had to wait their turn and were visibly annoyed by some random girl getting to get in before them.

The music was deafening, the bass filled the air like a pulse and Mabel loved it. It had been a while since she'd been to a club. After giving her eyes a moment to adjust to the flashing lights, she started looking for her friends.  
"Mabel!" A deep, raspy voice that easily drowned the music, came to her ear. "Your outfit's so 80s, that's so 2012!"  
"Grenda!" Mabel squeaked as loud as she could, since she had to scream, in order to make herself be heard over the loud music, and hugged her friend, whom she recognized at first glance. Grenda was even more buffed than the bouncer and almost broke her ribcage when she returned the hug.  
"It's so good to see you, girl!"  
"That's a girl?" the man behind her asked faintly, his eye filled his disbelief. "Oh. _Oh._ "  
"Oh, right." Mabel smiled and freed herself from the meaty arms. "This is Grenda, one of my friends I told you about. Grenda, this is-"  
"Your boyfriend?" Grenda asked excitedly.  
"Good catch." Candy stepped next to them and snickered. She had grown, but was still a petite figure, especially when compared to the bear of a woman next to her. Her hair was slightly shorter, but there was still the same sly smile on her face that Mabel had gotten so used to.  
She felt her eyes fill with tears at how many memories this meeting brought back.  
"Aw, I've missed you so much!" She blurted out and gave Candy a hug, too.  
"You never told me you had a boyfriend again." the Korean girl whispered to her as she returned the hug.  
"That's because he's not, we just met and he did me a favor, so I thought I'd invite him so we could have some fun." Mabel laughed nervously. "He's not my boyfriend."  
"He's hot. Tell him to take off his shirt!"  
He stared at Grenda, his aghast expression making it obvious that he had heard what was supposed to have been a whisper.  
The girls laughed.  
"Let's take a drink." Candy suggested and they retreated to the bar. Mabel glanced over her shoulder to see the man stay behind and look around, seemingly disoriented by the bright lights. He didn't look like he was having fun. Just when she was about to call on him, Grenda asked her a question, so she decided to leave him be for now and talk to her friends. It was what she had originally come here for, after all.  
After chatting for a while, Candy and Grenda decided to hit the dance floor. Mabel asked them to wait and looked around for the man, whose name she still didn't know.  
She found him a corner, hands in the pockets of his suit, silently watching the crowd that was shaking their limbs to the pulsing music and stroboscopic lights, occasionally putting a finger in his ear, as if he was digging for something in there.  
"Hey!" She yelled.  
He turned to her. "Hey." He said. Just like Candy, he refused to yell and seemed to just expect people to hear him.  
"Nice here, isn't it?"  
"I can't believe you call this music. It almost physically hurts! And not in the good way!" He immediately responded.  
"Oh. Sorry 'bout that. I thought you would like it here."  
He didn't reply, so she continued, although she couldn't help feeling slightly awkward. "I basically just wanted to find a way to say thank you for all the things you've done for me today. I kinda, I don't know." She laughed nervously.  
"It's alright." A sly smirk crossed his face. "Although I'm not one to turn down a favor."  
"I'll think of something." She promised. He nodded and she threw herself at him. She just felt like giving him a hug. Probably the alcohol.  
His body immediately froze completely and he didn't move a muscle as she wrapped her arms around him and was immediately overtaken by the sudden pounding of her heart against her ribcage. It was amazingly intense. She hadn't felt it like this in years.  
Just as she realized that she was probably making him feel uncomfortable, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. She felt herself blushing.  
"So, tell me. Have you come to this town all by yourself?" He whispered to her, his hot breath near her ear making her shiver.  
"No" she stuttered. "My brother and I came here to spend the summer and reconnect with old friends. We've been here ten years ago and had some amazing adventures. They were pretty amazing." She tried to laugh, which proved difficult with how her breath was catching in her throat.  
"So today wasn't your first encounter with the paranormal?"  
"Not at all. The gnomes were only the first weird thing that happened to me. We've also encountered ghosts, living wax figures, video games that suddenly came to live, uncovered a secret society and oh, that brat I used to date tried to kill my family by sending a crazy mind demon into my Grunkle's brain!"  
"And that's only the tip of the triangle, I'm guessing." He snickered softly.  
"Absolutely. I got stories like that for days."  
He pulled away slightly, bringing his face closer to hers. The blush on her cheeks grew.  
"So you've been through a lot, huh?"  
"I sure am." She couldn't help but puff her chest with pride.  
He smiled. She felt one of his hands on her cheek, tipping her chin up and suddenly, his lips encompassed hers.  
A sting of heat in her face, her legs started trembling, her heart rate sped up even more and butterflies started a war in her gut as she hurried to return the kiss to keep him from thinking she might not like him. Which wasn't true at all.  
He was a complete stranger, sure, and she didn't even know his name, but he had saved her. He seemed nice and funny and she just loved that glint of mischief in his eye. Something about him seemed off, but that had been the case with most of her former boyfriends.  
She broke the kiss to take in a few breaths, then laughed sheepishly.  
"We should get out of this place, this so-called music is making me sick." he muttered and pulled her along.  
She was too filled with endorphines to even notice until the cold night air hit her like a wave and the door closed behind them, blocking the music and flashing lights out. The backyard of the club was empty, aside from two rusty trash cans.  
"The town hasn't grown that much in the past ten years, has it?" she asked.  
"Not exactly." He responded and took a deep breath. "Woo. That place was making me sick. Don't see why you people actually like going there, taking drugs that reduce your mental capabilities to a minimum and shake your meat to that electric noise."  
She tilted her head and he quickly changed the subject.  
"It's the most modern place they got here. Some guy recently opened it, to pander to the youth of the town. Stanf- That guy from the Mystery Shack was pretty mad at him for that, since now no one'll attend his overpriced, cheap little disco events any more." A snicker.  
"That guy's my Grunkle." Mabel proudly announced.  
"Good for you, it doesn't show."  
She laughed and hit his shoulder. "Oh, quit it."  
"So, where are you staying at?" He asked, smiling innocently.  
"At the Shack. With my Grunkle. And my bro." She returned the smile.  
"Want me to take you home?"  
"Sure!"

"He doesn't dance. He doesn't like loud music all that much, either. Or social interaction. Or people, in general. That's why he didn't come. I would've let him tag along though, just like I did with you." She smiled generously.  
He nodded his head absently. They were walking the whole way and Mabel's legs were hurting. She had thought about asking him for a ride on his back, but then decided that she wasn't drunk enough to try that yet.  
She was extremely relieved when she finally spotted the Shack, she felt that they had been walking for ages. She had been talking for most of the time, as she was afraid of awkward silence pressing down on them and making things, well, awkward.  
"I think you would get along great. Dipper and you."  
"I'm sure." He smiled at her.  
She could just melt.  
So it broke her heart even more when she reached the door and stopped. "Well then. Here we are. Time to say good night."  
"What a shame."  
"I know, right. Oh. Well. Anyway. You know, I never really got to ask your n-"  
She was interrupted once again as he suddenly pinned her against the wooden wall, just between window and door, making it impossible to see the two from the inside. His tongue slid over her lips before quickly finding an opening to take advantage of. He slipped inside her mouth and pressed his lips against hers once more.  
Her head was spinning and she had to cling to the back of his suit not to lose balance and just fall over, as she could feel her legs giving out on her yet again.  
One of his hands rested on her thighs and slowly moved up, under the fabric of her skirt.  
She pulled away, her head almost completely red by now. "I, I don't normally do that-" She begun.  
"Funny," he muttered before pecking a kiss to her neck that made her gasp for breath. "Me neither."  
His lips worked their way up again, past her jawline, over her cheek and to her lips again. The alcohol was drowning the voice in her head that told her to stop and instead suggested she kept kissing this random stranger, whose hand was now at her butt, firmly grasping it. She gasped into the kiss and he ground his hips against hers, turning the gasp into a soft moan and making the pulling in her gut and the pulsing in her panties almost unbearable.  
"O-Okay." She whispered to him. "You can come up with me. Let's just hope Dipper's not in bed yet, okay?"  
Mabel shivered as he released her to give her enough space to pull out her keys and open the door.  
Just as she turned her back on him, a wide grin crept over his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whale.  
> Plot.  
> Sort of.  
> Don't ask me, I'm only here for the sex scenes.


	4. Bruises and Bitemarks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You will believe my lies  
> I'm not like other guys  
> That sparkle in my eyes  
> Is part of my disguise
> 
> My first straight sex scene! Yay!  
> Wait, no, actually that's kinda sad. Anyway, woo!  
> I have weird kinks. I mean, poor Dibs. Just... yikes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I hurried through this and didn't bother to proof read, so do have mercy on me.

Dipper was tired. It was 1 am and he had been in the attic all the time, staring at the runes and comparing them to some entries in the Journal. Had he been possessed? But he had heard Bill's voice. Why had the demon not tricked him into yet another deal and taken over his body completely?  
So many questions and no answers in sight. This vacation wasn't going where he had planned and this was only day one. He pushed the door to their bedroom open. At least he wanted to. But it was locked.  
He knocked against it, careful to use his left hand, as his right was now covered with a bandage he had put over the bite mark.  
"Mabel?" He asked.  
Silence.  
"Mabel, are you in there?"  
A soft noise, too soft to make out and muffled by the door, too.  
"Mabel?"  
"Di-Dipper!" Her voice sounded strange, but it was definitely hers.  
"Mabel, are you alright?"  
"Yes! I'm fi-, uh, I'm fine!" She laughed breathlessly.  
"What are you _doing_ in there? We're supposed to share that room, you know."  
"I know! I'm sorry, nnh, I'm just, I got home early and went to bed, but couldn't fall aaasleep... S-So now, I'm, haa, I'm, I'm, I'm doing gymnastics. In my underwear!" She quickly added. "S-So, please don't come iiiin."  
"Oh." Dipper blushed out of sheer embarrassment. It would have been even more awkward if he had run into his sister bending and stretching in her underwear, of course, so she had done the right thing. "That's okay. I'm just, hey, I'm just gonna sleep downstairs, okay?"  
When she didn't reply, he pushed his ear against the door and heard her heavy breathing.  
"How'd it go with Grenda and Candy, by the way?"  
"Uh, great! It's been great, Dip! I'll tell you tomorrow, okay?"  
"Sure." He glanced at his hand. "I have a thing or two to tell you as well.  
"I can't waiiit."  
"See you tomorrow then. Good night."  
"Night, bro-bro." She replied. "Oh, you're the beeest."  
He quickly walked down the stairs, his cheeks flaming due to the strange tone in her voice. Other thoughts and questions quickly replaced the worry about his sister, so he could quickly shrug it off and move on. Mentally.  
Before sleep overwhelmed him and he fell asleep on the couch, anyway.

Mabel let out another gasp.  
"I, I told you to stop..." She complained weakly. Her cheeks were about as hot as the sun and easily shining as bright. She didn't dare open her eyes and look down, between her twitching legs, that were held in place by a pair of gloved hands, the thumbs of which occasionally grazing over sensitive spots that left her shuddering, where a blond head was plunged, partially covered by the skirt she was still wearing. Only her panties had been removed and disappeared in the darkness of the room, hopefully to be found by her rather than Dipper, once this was over. His tongue stirred around the small bead, that was oh so sensitive and made her gut throb, her heart completely forget everything it knew about rythm and her breath catch. He snickered, his hot breath hitting sensitive areas, causing her to give out another gasp. She covered her mouth as he pushed his tongue inside of her and stirred around. She wanted to grab one of her pillows to drown her pathetic, pleasured noises, but she couldn't gather up the strength to do so, so one of her hands remained over her mouth while the other was clutching creases into her bed sheet.  
"This, this... I, I shouldn't have agreed to thisss..." She had to actually bite down on her own skin as he hit a particularly sensitive spot. At first she had thought that he was just moving around randomly, but he had soon targeted all of her sensitive areas, as if he knew exactly where to look and it was driving her insane. "Okay, okay, okay." She muttered. "Stop. Stop, please, I can't. I can't, I, I just-"  
He pulled away and looked at her. His eye was _hungry_. It made her shiver. A feeling similar to fear clutched her heart and dried her throat. Which was a good thing, because it left the scream she then let out when he shoved two fingers into her, almost silent.  
She came almost instantly, the worked up stimulation and pressure releasing by that quick, rough movement. She bit down on her lips until she tasted blood.  
He was quick to crawl on top of her and lick the red drops off the soft skin.  
She hurriedly kissed his lips, just yearning to do something other than just lying there, moaning and being taken away by her feelings.  
She was usually the dominant one in relationships. She always picked rather shy boys, who made her go commando if she ever wanted to get anywhere at all. This was all so new for her. Not that she didn't enjoy it, but she just felt kind of useless.  
When he returned the kiss, she forgot all about her doubts though. She raised her arms and let him slide the sweater off her, next off came the light shirt she was wearing underneath.  
He shook his head with a smile. "How are you not just melting in there?"  
"You get used to it." She replied with a laugh.  
He pecked a kiss to her cheek and fiddled with the clasp of her bra. Just as she reached behind to lend him a hand, she heard a ripping sound and the thing came off and was flung far away.  
"Was that really necessary?" She asked.  
He shrugged his shoulders and struggled to unbutton his jacket.  
She laughed softly and undid the buttons for him. "You're really not good with that kind of stuff, are you?"  
"I have other things on my mind." He slid the jacket off, next was the shirt he was wearing underneath, he hesitated briefly when it came to his bow tie. While he was looking at it indecisively, Mabel took it upon herself to undo his pants and slide them down his thighs.  
"Oh my." was her first response to the sight of his exposed, erect member.  
He had just slid the undone bow tie off his neck and looked down at her, when she poked the tip. It sent a jolt through his body.  
"Okay, okay, okay." He muttered, grabbing her hand and pulling it away from his appendage. "That was, whew, more intense than I thought. I should be able to pull this off, nonetheless." His eye was darting around aimlessly while he was babbling to himself.  
Mabel smiled. It was cute.  
He simply left his pants where they were, halfway down his thighs, when he pinned Mabel down and positioned himself with an eager expression.  
"Stop, wait, no, please, put on a co- AUGH."  
Mabel was interrupted _yet again_ as he slid himself inside her. She was ready, of course, but he was a little thicker than she had expected and he was a bit too fast.  
"Slower..." She begged weakly.  
He looked annoyed, but did as she asked. He was propped on his elbows above her, she could admire his naked torso, well, until she had to close her eyes, as he pulled out and slowly pushed himself in again. Her head tipped back, her breath caught, a soft moan escaped the back of her throat and he immediately attacked her exposed neck, littering it with kisses and licks.  
It only held on for a few more moments, before his pumping became rough pounding. Thankfully, she had already adjusted to him by then. Even more thankfully, he pushed three fingers into her mouth, seconds before he picked up the pace and gave her something to bite down on.  
His hot breath hit her neck as he panted, but he resumed thrusting nonetheless. He sucked on the skin of her neck, leaving a large, purple mark. It made her want to do something, too. She extended her arms, wrapped them around him and pulled him down, to feel the warmth of his body closer. It seemed to throw him off rythm for a moment, but he soon found it again. He also found something else he seemed to have been looking for and as he thrusted directly into that spot that was connected to so many nerves, she was the one jolting. Her finger nails dug into his back, causing him to moan loudly. But she had no time to worry about that, because his repeated attacks on her G-Spot soon transformed her into a cringing, moaning, shaking mess. Her fingers slowly slid down the skin, leaving red trails near his spine, he was gasping and removed his hand from her mouth to have something to support himself with, as his other arm was starting to shake dangerously. Mabel however needed something to dig her teeth into to keep from screaming and waking everyone up. The urge to do so was getting harder to resist by the second. Her entire nervous system was currently giving out on her. The stimulation was too much, she was sure most of her nerves were fried by the amounts of electricity they were sending through her body, every fiber of her being was contristricting, her gut was boiling, her lungs burning, as she could hardly breathe. No amount of will power could make her keep her eyes open for longer than five seconds, but even behind closed lids, she saw white dots dancing around in intricate patterns.  
She lurched forward and dug her teeth into his collar bone, her breath quickly hitting against his skin and the metallic taste of his blood soon filling her mouth.  
He let out an accomplished groan and she felt something hot spread in her abdomen, before everything went white. It felt like fainting, only in reverse. Instead of falling, she was flying. Her limbs felt light, so light. Her head even lighter.  
When she came to, it was over. He had pulled out and sat on the edge of the bed, but his still jagged breaths showed her that she couldn't have been out for too long. Either that, or he had terrible stamina.  
"Hey." She said, her voice hoarse, and reached out to touch his arm, the strange feeling-overload-numbness slowly fading from her body.  
He turned around to smile at her. "Hey."  
"That was amazing." She sounded about as tired as she felt. He tilted his head slightly before the smile on his lips widened.  
"Well, gooood." he purred and laid down next to her. He pecked a brief kiss to her lips and lilted: "Sweet dreams."  
She smiled as she tucked herself into her covers and tried to ignore the sharp pain between her legs, just as much as she tried to repress the thought that he had gone raw. "You too."  
Soon enough, Mabel was soundly asleep. His eye, that seemed to be glowing faintly in the dark, rested on her softly breathing body, making sure she was fast asleep before he pulled up his pants. He let out a small curse as he fiddled with the zipper, then began rummaging through the dark room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be honest here. How many of you would switch places with Mabel? In this chapter, at least?


	5. Growing up and other mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plot? What plot?  
> Oh, right.  
> Anyway. If I throw enough sibling-bickering at you, maybe you will mistake it for actual plot.

The last remnants of post-orgasmic bliss still coursed through Mabel's system as she woke up. Unlike the pain, that had luckily subsided by now. Drowsily, she reached besides her, hoping to find that delicious frame not too far away, so she could snuggle up to him, hug him or at least litter him with kisses. She was just too happy. This summer was starting out real great. Sure, she hadn't meant for things to take these sort of turns and escalate as quickly as they did, but it was the result that counted, right? And the result was...  
That he wasn't there.  
Within seconds, she was awake, sobered down and sitting in her bed.  
She was alone.  
The only thing left was his blood on her fingers.  
From when she had dug her nails into his back.  
"Great." She mumbled and got up. She took off the skirt that was the last piece of clothing on her, anyway and went to pick up her torn bra, panties, sweater and shirt.  
It felt like she had been slapped in the face and she was still too numb to really process what had happened. So she simply returned to automatic, threw her clothes in the laundry bag and walked into the bathroom where she stepped into the shower.  
Turning on the water, standing under the hot stream slowly woke her up. She felt tears shoot to her eyes and leaned her head against the wall, letting them roll down her face and hit the bottom of the shower to join with the clear water that was trickling down on her, gently massaging her back.

 

"Rise and Shine, dweep!"  
Such lovely words welcomed Dipper back to the realm of the living and he squinted his eyes to shield them from the light that was shining through the window and directly into his face.  
"Grunkle Stan...?" He slurred as he recognized the figure that was standing right in front of him. "Why are you up so early?"  
"Time is money, kid. Money I can claw those gullible tourists out of. So get up, you can help me out in the Shack! Like good old times!"  
"Yeah. Good times." Dipper couldn't help but smile.  
"Speaking of which, what're you doing down here? Was sharing a room with your sister too creepy after all?"  
"Well, yeah, kinda." Dipper shrugged.  
"Don't worry. That's normal. All part of growing up and such. How about I make you breakfast?"  
Dipper smiled. His Grunkle must really have missed them. He was trying so hard to make them feel at home.  
He got up and followed Stan to the kitchen. He bumped into his great-uncle, who had stopped in the doorway, furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and took a step back to glance over the older man's shoulder. He had no idea what to think of what he saw.

Mabel skipped down the stairs, trying to put on a show for her family, as to not worry them unnecessarily. She also felt strange about telling them that she just had a One-Night-Stand, apparently. She and Dipper had never really talked much about relationships. It just seemed ...not right, too intimate, awkward or weird.  
She walked into the kitchen, finding her Grunkle and twin brother sitting at the table, next to-  
Her breath stopped.  
Heart skipped a beat.  
Legs started shaking again to a point where she almost fell.  
The blond man looked up and smiled widely at her.  
Dipper and Stan stared at him. Suspicious. Trying to figure out who that stranger was. That stranger, stuffing his face with eggs, bacon and bread. He had shoved unbelievable amounts of food into his mouth, chewed as if he had never eaten something solid before, then struggled to swallow. Dipper had worried about him. At least a little. He had considered whether or not he wanted to give that man the Heimlich or to let him choke and die for not telling them who he was. Eventually, he had managed to gobble down the unbelievable amount of food he had managed to fit in his mouth, though not without hacking and spitting some of it over the table.  
Stan had wiped whatever had gotten on his face off, without taking his eyes of the random stranger.  
"M'nin' Sh't'n St'r." The man gargled at Mabel, spilling the coffee he had just poured into his mouth all over himself.  
Dipper and Stan exchanged a brief glance. That coffee was boiling hot.  
Mabel just chuckled and sat down next to him. She grabbed a tissue and cleaned his face. He didn't resist.  
"So," Dipper drawled, "you know him?"  
"Who's that man and what's he doing in my house? He better pay for that food, too."  
"Oh, yeah, that's..." She interrupted herself and awkwardly gawked at the man, who stared back at her.  
"Hm? Oh. Yes." He smiled." Name's Bill."  
"What?" Stan muttered, but was immediately drowned out by Dipper's panicked scream.  
 _"Bill?!"_

"I don't see the big deal, it's a common name." Wendy shrugged it off. A few hours had passed since then. Dipper still couldn't believe it.  
"But he only has one eye."  
"So what? Hey, I knew a guy who only had one harm once. As for Bill's, I've known quite a few of those, too."  
"Yes, but... Agh, I just don't know how to describe it!"  
"Relax, dude. You said that other Bill was a triangular demon trying to kill your family, right?"  
"Right."  
"So. Is that guy tringular?"  
"...No."  
"Is he trying to kill your family?"  
"Well, he's dating my sister. She said he was her boyfriend and he seemed pretty okay with that. At least I think so. I just know that he then poured chili over those five slates of cheese he had slammed on that piece of bread and shoved it down his throat. He seemed pretty okay with that, too."  
"Chili and cheese? Damn, I gotta try that." Wendy laughed. "What I'm saying is, you need to relax."  
"You're probably right." He smiled and tried to calm down. He and Wendy were at that special spot she had shown him ten years ago. He decided that he needed to calm down and focus. If Mabel suddenly got her shot at romance, why shouldn't he? This was a pretty nifty chance to ask her out, right?  
Or was it?  
What if that guy really was a demon though? A demon who had spent the night in their house. Who had spent the night with ...with his sister.  
Dipper blushed again, almost as much as he had blushed when Mabel told him. Stan almost choked on his coffee, Bill was completely concentrated on chewing that chili and cheese sandwich monstrosity of his and Dipper just felt downright awkward. Suddenly, everything made sense. Mabel's strange behavior, the tone of her voice. The way she had avoided eye contact made it quite obvious that she didn't feel too comfortable about that, either.  
She probably missed the "I nailed your sister/niece, what you gonna do about it?"-look that Bill then shot Dipper and Stan, too.  
Or that large, purple smooch mark on her neck, that she probably thought he wasn't gonna notice and had no doubt been caused by him, too. As if he were marking his territory... "I don't like him."  
It took Dipper a while to realize he had said that out loud.  
"I hate all of my brother's girlfriends, too. Total bitches, if you ask me. And stupid, if they go for guys like my bros. But I suppose that's normal for siblings."  
Aaaand he blew it. Back to awkward friendzone talk then.  
"You know, this is not how I imagined this summer to go, anyway."  
"We can still find the author, Dips. Don't worry about that." Wendy smiled and lightly hit him in the shoulder. He barely winced.  
"That's not it. You know, Mabel moved away from home when she was 19. She moved together with one of her boyfriends, whom she broke up with shortly after. I've barely seen her, since then. Actually, yesterday was the first time I had seen her since christmas. And that summer ten years ago was the last time we actually spent together. After that, we went our separate ways. I kinda hoped we could reunite during this summer, relive old memories, solve secrets yet unsolved, feel like the Mystery Twins again. I guess I kinda miss that." He sighed.  
"That's growing up for ya, dude. I guess, these precious times are so precious because they're, like, not for ever. You know?"  
Dipper nodded. "That's deep."  
"I know, right?" She grinned.  
Just as he was about to change the subject to something more "Would you go out with me?", Wendy interrupted him.  
"Man, dude, what did you do to your hand?"  
"Oh, that?" He glanced at the bandage. "That was messed up. You see, yesterday, I-"  
He heard a squeal.  
"Mabel!" Dipper jumped over the roof and back into the house, leaving Wendy behind. He regretted it, of course, but he had to get his priorities straight. He couldn't leave Mabel with what might be the demon who had suddenly obtained a human form.  
"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!"  
He slammed the door to the room they were supposed to share open, only to find her and that boyfriend of hers, sitting on her bed. She was holding something that seemed awfully familiar.  
"Hey. Isn't that your scrapbook from ten years ago?" Dipper asked, just relieved they weren't doing anything he might regret seeing.  
"Yes!" She squeaked, happily. "Look what I found!"  
He had to step closer to examine the round object in her hand.  
"Isn't that..."  
"Dream Boy High! Where love is on your permanent record!" She said, with a wiggle of her eyebrows.  
"That horrible movie?"  
"I thought I had lost it! But it was in here all along! Hey," she nudged Bill, "we should watch it together! I loved that movie when I was twelve. Sure gets the nostalgia on."  
Bill examined the DVD closely. He seemed ...angry?  
Then, before either of the twins could react, the man grabbed the small object and hurled it out of the window. "Oops." He said in a monotone voice. "My hand slipped."  
Mabel looked disappointed, but forced herself to smile. "Oh. That's okay."  
"What do you think you're doing?" Dipper immediately hissed at the man. Bill twisted his neck in an angle that made Dipper's spine scream internally and also made him feel very, _very_ uneasy.  
Mabel didn't seem to notice. She skipped through the pages of her book and stopped on the page with failed summer romances. Bill immediately returned his attention to her, instead of responding to Dipper. That was alright though, because the young man was deadly frightened by that physical impossibility he had just witnessed.  
"Mabel." He croaked. "Can we, can we talk?"  
"Hm?" She looked up and put the book down. "Sure." She got up and winked at Bill. "You stay here, you perfect man, you."  
Bill smiled and folded his hands in his lap.

"What is it?" Mabel hissed at Dipper, as soon as they had left the room.  
"Bill is Bill. The demon." He whispered.  
"Ugh. This again?"  
"Isn't it weird though? I asked Wendy and Soos and they said they'd never seen anyone who matched his description here before. He's wearing an eyepatch, Mabel. You don't see that every day!"  
"That's racist!"  
"No, it's not! How is it- Mabel! You're doing it again!"  
"What?"  
"Your random crushing is going to ruin our chance at solving the mysteries of Gravity Falls!"  
"Well, your paranoia is ruining my chance at true love!"  
"How can it be true love, you just met the guy!"  
"Yes, but I'm pretty sure I love him!"  
"He hurled your beloved DVD out of the window."  
"His hand slipped."  
"Don't tell me you're actually buying that?!"  
She didn't respond. She bit her lips, full of spite, like a little child who was just told that it couldn't play with its favorite toy.  
"I'm sorry, but, just... Listen. Remember the first time we fought Bill? Those guys from that movie were there, too, remember?"  
"Xyler and Craz." She muttered weakly.  
"Yes, those. Those names, I can't believe... Anyway, he looked like he held a grudge against that DVD. Those guys helped us defeat him, so it would make sense, right?"  
"Right. Maybe there's a completely different explanation. One that actually makes sense."  
"That one makes sense!"  
"My boyfriend's not a demon, Dipper."  
"Your boyfriend's been a bunch of Gnomes and an overly attached ten year old, too!"  
She gasped. "You take that back!"  
"Mabel, please. Just face it and ...just let go. Let it go."  
"Oh yeah? I let each and every of my failed summer romances go."  
"Then why did you bring that book?"  
Tears shot to her eyes. "This was supposed to be a second chance, right? Why don't _you_ let go of these mysteries?!"  
"Because we got an actual chance at solving them, but only if we work together!"  
"Besides, you're no one to tell me about letting go. You never let go of Wendy."  
Dipper stopped. Mabel smiled triumphantly.  
"That's..."  
"Don't give me that, bro-bro. I can tell by the look on your face. You never managed to get over her. You're in no position to tell me about letting go."  
Dipper was at loss for words.  
"Can I get back inside to my _boyfriend_ now?"  
"Grow up, Mabel." He muttered weakly.  
"Grow up, first."  
"Growing up is optional."  
Both turned around to see Bill lounging in the doorway.  
"Hey!" Mabel smiled while Dipper started sweating.  
How long had he been there?  
How much did he hear?  
"So, Pine Tree," Bill approached the young man dangerously slow. Just as Dipper opened his mouth to complain to his sister, Bill flicked against the pine tree of his cap and snickered. "Nice hat."  
"Thanks." Dipper muttered.  
"You wanna solve the mysteries of this town?"  
"Um, yes, I s-"  
"That's great! I'd absolutely love to help." A sweet smile that made Mabel snuggle against the man who absently put an arm around her shoulder.  
"See?" She whispered.  
"Well, um, I-I don't..."  
"Think about it, okay? I gotta go now."  
"Aaw." Mabel tried to look as disappointed as she could without seeming too clingy.  
"See you tomorrow, Star." Bill pecked a kiss to her cheek, lifted Dipper's hat off and ruffled through his hair, which left a strange sensation lingering that sent shivers down his spine, before Bill walked down the stairs. Halfway down, the sound of his steps was replaced by something else and seconds later, they heard a loud crash.  
"Bill!" Mabel called, shocked.  
"I'm okay!" came it from downstairs. Brief, unstable laughter resounded, the sound of some more steps and the slamming of the door.  
"Finally." Stan commented on the whole thing without even bothering to look up from his magazine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting places, okay?  
> We're getting there.


	6. Must Distrust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper is being paranoid and tries to prove that Mabel is actually dating a demon, but she is in denial.
> 
> There's a 10% chance of plot occuring.

Mabel rolled her eyes at the list of craziness her brother had created.  
Wendy and Soos were sitting in the room the twins shared. And that one of the twins had shared with a man, the other twin believed to be a demon.  
A vicious monster, triangular, mind you, capable of entering people's dreams and tearing souls out of bodies. Such a monster was now her current boyfriend. At least when it came to Dipper.  
Wendy and Soos didn't buy it.  
Mabel was just plain annoyed. She liked Bill. A lot.  
"I dunno, dude, I know many Bill's." Soos muttered.  
"With only one eye?"  
"That's racist." Mabel said.  
"Stop saying that, it's not."  
"It kinda is, dude."  
Dipper shook his head. "Okay. No. You said he fled from the disco music. Well, Bill _hates_ synthesized music."  
Soos smiled brightly. "Oh yeah, I remember that."  
"Many people do."  
"Oh yeah, man." Wendy nodded in agreement. "I mean, some of that new stuff is real hot and all, but most of it is just junk. That's not an argument."  
Dipper muttered a curse under his breath as he crossed _"Music"_ off his list of _"Reasons why Bill is Bill Cipher"_.  
"Next up. He seemed familiar with the town, mentioning the disco and everything."  
"He sure did."  
"But neither Wendy nor Soos, who live here, have ever seen him before. He's flashy, they wouldn't have missed him."  
Wendy shrugged her shoulders. Soos was watching a fly.  
"I don't know about that, okay?" Mabel waved it off. "I'm going to ask him tomorrow."  
"I can't wait to meet your new boyfriend, Mabel." Wendy grinned. "Congratulations, by the way." She spotted the smooch mark on Mabel's neck and winked at the younger girl, who chuckled softly, her cheeks immediately turning a faint hue of pink.  
"Yeah, congratz!" Soos agreed. He didn't seem to notice the mark though.  
"No congratulations on demon boyfriends." Dipper demanded.  
"Oh come on, you were right one time, when you said my boyfriend was a paranormal thing. _One time_. You'll never stop rubbing that into my face, will you?"  
"Not until you show some gratitude for it already. Moving on! One eye, guys."  
"Oh, that's easy! He said that was an accident. He fell from a tree when he was a kid and a branch kinda impaled his eye. He was lucky he made it out alive."  
Wendy and Soos nodded slowly.  
"That's some serious shit." She muttered.  
Dipper pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, fine. Where does he even live?"  
Mabel blushed as she avoided eye contact. "I don't ...really know."  
He sighed and shook his head. "Really?"  
"We met just yesterday! Cut me some slack here!"  
"You brought him here and-" He interrupted himself, cheeks flaming.  
"Okay, never mind. Know what. I got one more." Dipper took a deep breath. "The gnomes were scared of him."  
"The gnomes are a bunch of whimps. That hardly counts. They're scared of everything that's taller than them."  
"Come on, Mabel. I'm sure-"  
"Dipper, please. Just... Just give him at least a chance, okay? Please!"  
He sighed. "Okay. Fine. Know what? I will. I'll just... I'm sorry."  
She smiled. "It's okay. I forgive you. Because I'm the bigger person."  
"You're shorter than me." He muttered as she hugged him.  
"So, he's gonna help us uncover the secrets of this place?" Wendy sounded ...was that happiness? If so, what was she happy about? Meeting a new guy? Or the prospect of finally getting behind the secrets of this town?  
"Yup. He said he's gonna drop by again, tomorrow. Then we can ask him. And probably prove Dipper wrong for good!" The girls high fived.  
Dipper sighed, as he glared at the list and crossed the final point off, too.  
"We should probably drop by Old Man McGucket again. It's where we left off." He muttered.  
"Right. You can raise the dead, so that shouldn't be such a big deal." Soos said.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Didn't you know? Oh. Guess I never told you, then. Shortly before that blackout occured, you know, ten years ago, where that guy killed himself?"  
"Yes, I remember that. It was all over the news."  
"Well, a few days before that, the old man told me to meet him by the Diner, you know, so I came. Figured he'd wanted to tell me something. So, I was there, time and place like he said, when he appeared on the other side of the street. He had forks sticking in his arms. It was really weird. He was also moving really weird. It was ...weird. So, anyway, he then crossed the street, without looking, and was promptly hit by a truck. No, seriously! That thing came out of nowhere! I called 911 and they came and brought him to the hospital, but he died after three days. Internal bleedings and broken bones and also, those stab wounds from the forks had infected. Really nasty. I wasn't really around when he died, but one of the nurses told me he had said something among the lines of "He doesn't want us to know" or something."  
"And you waited ten years to tell me this?!" Dipper screamed.  
"Well, sorry, man. But that was the time when things started to get serious between Melody and me. Besides, then that blackout happened, the exact same day McGucket died, so I had a lot on my mind."  
Dipper sighed. "Okay. Thanks, anyway. That ...That's horrible. Now we can basically start from scratch. God. This... Things just got a whole lot more complicated."  
"Don't worry!" Mabel punched his shoulder.  
Why did the girls constantly have to do that?  
"You're my smart bro-bro. If anyone can think of what to do, it's you!" She smiled widely. She seemed to have forgotten about him trying to break her and her still-potential-demon boyfriend up and he as thankful for that.  
"Of course I will." He smiled.  
"Whatever did Candy and Grenda say about you ditching them, anyway?" Wendy asked, curiously. As curious as Wendy would get, anyway.  
"Oh, they were okay with that." Mabel waved it off. "They said they could understand that. They would've done the same. Grenda keeps asking me for pics of him." She chuckled, her cheeks blushing brightly.  
Dipper watched her and felt his heart sink low. Even if that guy was that horrible demon and playing them just as much as he was playing his sister's heart strings.  
Could he actually break them up?  
Mabel seemed so happy, after all. So in love. He really didn't want to ruin this for her.  
"God damn it." He muttered and clung to the backpack he was keeping the Journal inside. The touch reminded him on the bandage on his hand.  
They had to be careful.  
 _Trust no one._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I made two of these in one day.
> 
> Additionally, I'm tired.


	7. Clues Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite his promise, Dipper still distrusts Mabel's obscure new boyfriend.  
> His strives to find the Author seem to be at a dead end, when he surprisingly receives a clue from the last person he had deemed trustworthy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found the strength to overcome a vicious case of writer's block. I also found the plot.  
> I must yet find the strength to stop adding random sex scenes, though.

"And you honestly don't think the nicknames are weird?"  
Dipper was interrupted by a pillow that was flung at his head.  
"Ow! I'm just saying, you know."  
"You said you were gonna give him a chance." Mabel's voice sounded reproachful.  
Dipper sighed and tossed the pillow back.  
It was dark in the room they were sharing. It was weird to be sharing a room with his sister again, after all these years. To be so close to each other when sleeping. Was it weird? Was it too weird?  
"But you did notice that he never blinks, right?"  
"Dipper!"  
"It's true!"  
"Seriously? Ugh. That same argument, even. You're just blinking when he's blinking."  
"Do you even know just _how_ unlikely that is?"  
"Do you even know just how big a liar you are? Saying you'll give him a chance when your dear Wendy is around, but the second she's out the door, you get back to trying to ruin my relationship."  
"But-"  
"Sleep. Now. Talk later."  
She demonstratively turned around in the bed, he could hear it, and went silent.  
Dipper sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just ...worried about you. Okay?"  
No response.  
Dipper sighed again. As he turned around to get comfortable, he hit his injured hand and hissed breathily. There were so many things to get to the bottom of.

A flash of bright light and Mabel was wide awake.  
It was like something in her dream had woken her up. In a dream she didn't remember, no less. She tiredly looked around. Everything was normal. Dipper was still soundly asleep. She smiled slightly, but her smile died down when she remember the argument they had before she had fallen asleep.  
A few minutes later, she ran down the stairs, her freshly showered hair hitting wet and heavily against the back of today's sweater. Taking a look around the Shack in the early morning, with everyone still asleep. It was eerily quiet in the old building, only the wood was creaking here and there. At least Mabel hoped it was the wood and not some rats living between the walls. Or that wax head of Larry King.  
She shuddered and stepped into the gift shop. All that dusty, old, cheap merch. She blew on some of the things and sent pieces of dust flying in the air, like snow. Dusty snow. That was kinda gross.  
She chuckled anyway.  
But immediately silenced herself when she saw someone outside. She peeked out the window and seconds later, opened the door with a wide smile.  
"Hey, handsome man. Got lost?"  
Bill snickered as he stepped in. "I am just a lonesome traveler and really glad I found a place to crash at, or else I'd be but a snack for the wolves."  
"Come on in then. We wouldn't want a hottie like you to die an untimely death in the mysterious and dangerous woods out there."  
He put a hand on her head and ruffled up her still wet hair. She grabbed his cheeks and pushed her lips on his.  
It took him a couple seconds to return the kiss.  
After a few moments, she pulled away and grabbed his hand. "Come on, I have to ask you some questions!"  
"Wait, what?" He seemed irritated as she dragged him with her and pushed him on the couch before throwing herself next to him, head resting on his shoulder.  
"Where are you from?"  
"I was born here. I just travel a lot."  
"What happened to your eye?"  
"That was accident when I was little. It involved a stick and gravity."  
"Where are you currently staying?"  
"Why do you ask so many questions?"  
"I just wanna know more about you!" She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.  
"Can't we just get back to making out?" He was definitely irritated.  
Mabel chimed a tiny laugh, hiked up her skirt and climbed on his lap before wrapping her arms around his neck.  
"Alright. For now."  
It was hard to keep an eye on the flow of time, feeling the lips of her loved one brush against hers. His tongue using the smallest opening to force its way into her mouth, his hands sliding down her back, his warmth ensnare her, basically all of his motions made her heart race and her cheeks flame. She felt oddly empty inside when he pulled away, but quickly made up for it when he grabbed her hair and yanked her head back a bit to litter her now exposed neck with kisses, drawing soft moans from her. Her finger nails dug in his shoulder and she could feel that throbbing need between her legs again.  
Mabel felt mischievous when she untangled his hand from her hair and got off his leg, only to crouch on the floor between his legs, eye to eye with his crotch.  
Bill shot her a gaze that expressed both, wonder and worry.  
Her cheeks flaming, she quickly looked around to reassure herself that nobody was watching, before she undid his pants and reached for his exposed member. It sent a jolt through his body.  
She laughed softly. "Relax, I'm not gonna bite. Much." She gave what she hoped was a seductive smile before bringing her face closer to the stiffening appendage. His breath caught as she poked the head with her tongue and then slid it over the entire length. As she reached the hilt, she opened her mouth and wrapped her lips around him before taking him in completely. He tipped his head back and groaned.  
"Human bodies really-really are..."  
Both of them jerked in unison when they heard heavy steps coming down the stairs. She quickly hopped on his lap again to cover up his throbbing erection that was still desperate for attention. Feeling the hot, stiff length so brush against her inner thigh made her cheeks flame even hotter. With a sound that seemed like a cross between a groan and a sigh, he grabbed her reddened cheeks.  
"Morning, sw-" Stan interrupted himself when he found his niece sitting on the lap of that weirdo from the day before. "Seriously, kids? I liked that couch." He shook his head. "Can't you do that somewhere else? Now I gotta _burn_ it. Or at least sell it to some gullible idiot." He muttered to himself while walking past them, anxious not to look in their general direction.  
"I'm gonna make breakfast. Try not to get any stains on the cushions." He slammed the kitchen door closed behind him and Mabel burst out laughing.  
"That was close, huh?"  
Bill grimaced. "My body is burning." The way he said that and the glare he was shooting her, made her feel bad. But it was also just so adorable to see him like that. Like a pouting child. And while a part of her subconcious furrowed its eyebrows and thought that that weird phrase sounded strangely familiar, she shot another glance around, before sliding off his lap, taking him in and finishing the dirty deed.  
With his taste still lingering inside her mouth, she entered the kitchen, dragging her boyfriend, who was quietly overwhelmed with the last bits of afterglow washing through him, with. His lip was bleeding, as he had bit down on it to keep from emoting loudly and Mabel was just dying to kiss the few red drops off him, but forced herself to sit still, because Dipper entered the kitchen shortly after and was all but pleased to see his sister's ominous boyfriend.

Mabel did a good job at blocking the awkwardness out. Bill didn't even seem to notice how he was inconveniencing everybody.  
Dipper really felt like packing a punch into that face, just to rid it of that smug grin. Wendy's arrival was the only thing that kept him from it.  
"What up, dudes?" She greeted nonchalantly, as always, before climbing in through the window.  
Stan refused to pay any attention to that and removed himself from the table, the red-haired young woman quick to take his place.  
Soos, who just entered through the door, quickly grabbed a spare chair and placed it next to Dipper before sitting down on it, muttering a low excuse for being late.  
"This is Bill." Mabel introduced with a wide smile, proudly holding up her hands, showing off their interweaved fingers. Bill smiled just as widely.  
Wendy winked briefly at her girl friend, then snapped her fingers before pointing them at Bill, as a sign of approval.  
Soos gave his friend's boyfriend a high five.  
Dipper scowled silently.  
"So, where are we going today?" Wendy asked.  
Dipper found his eyes shifting nervously and he reflexively twiddled his thumbs; he was still a bad liar, after all these years. Awkwardly stuttering incoherent things, as he still hadn't managed to think of something new to pursue after being told about McGucket's death.  
"What about the old man's place? McGucket, I mean. Where he used to live. Maybe he's left some clues?" Mabel suggested.  
"Sorry, dudes. That won't work." Soos shook his head. "They tore it down. They neded the space to load off more junk. There's nothing left."  
"Aaw, man." Mabel crossed her arms and pouted.  
"Old Man McGucket?" Bill verified.  
"Yup." She mumbled, still pouting.  
"He also used to live in a small cave in the woods, you know. It's crawling with useless stuff."  
Dipper perked up. "How would you know?"  
"I'm currently crashing there." Bill instantly replied and shot the young man a challenging look. "I _hate_ hotels."  
While Wendy, Mabel and Soos groaned their agreement to that, apparently all of them having previously made bad experiences with those establishments, Dipper narrowed his eyes.  
"How would you know about the place though?"  
"The old man was a distant relative of mine. When I was but a half pint, he showed me that place. During one of his brighters moments, anyway."  
"You were related?" Dipper inquired.  
"Thank god, it doesn't show." Wendy whispered and Mabel giggled breathlessly and nodded in agreement.  
"Yup. I'm the grandson of the daughter of his grandfather's oldest brother's cousin's uncle." Another grin.  
"Okay?" Dipper frantically tried not to lose track of these complicated relations, but quickly failed and stared blankly ahead.  
"Dude." Soos said.  
"I also got you something from that place." With that, Bill reached into the pocket of his unnecessarily flashy yellow suit and put a pair of glasses on the table. "I found them there. But they couldn't have belonged to McGucket."  
Dipper picked the glasses up and glanced at them. "Hm. Alright then. I say, we check that place out. Who's with me?"  
As his friends cheered loudly, Dipper slid the glasses into a pocket of his back pack, not noticing the shocked expression of his Grunkle, who had come to check on the noise and spotted the glasses.

"Which way now?" Soos asked.  
Oh, Soos. Always ready to open a stranger the door to his home, his pantry and, most importantly, his heart.  
He never thought once about distrusting Mabel's boyfriend.  
Neither did Wendy.  
At least she didn't eye him hungrily like a potential lover, either, which calmed Dipper's jealousy significantly.  
They were all so naive.  
Or was he just being paranoid?  
Dipper wasn't even sure any more.  
He had promised his sister to at least give the man a chance and he was now going to provide them with new hints as to figuring out the author's identity, wasn't he?  
Would Bill do such a thing?  
Dipper scoffed.  
Hardly.  
He would more and likely possess someone and do everything in his might to stop them from gaining any more clues. From finding out the truth, however dark it might be.  
40 years ago.  
It was 40 now.  
Such a long time.  
Excruciatingly long. Unimaginably long, at least for someone Dipper's age.  
Quietly brooding, he followed his friends through the forest, past the big and small miracles he had already explored so many years ago. It was almost as if he could see his younger self and Mabel, too, running about the place in childlike curiosity.  
He let out a brief sigh as his gaze fixed on his sister, who was still skipping the same way she would have done a decade ago. But now, she was skipping while holding hands with a potential evil nightmare monster.  
For how long had they been walking?  
Dipper had lost count of the minutes. A glance at his watch revealed that it was either broken or out of batteries and he had left his phone at the Shack. As usually. He would always forget that dumb thing somewhere.  
But he didn't dare ask for the time. He felt like that would disturb the peace.  
"It's right over-" Just as Bill pointed, a scream echoed from that direction.  
Not a human one.  
It was terrible. Ear-drum-rupturing. And definitely not human.  
The group sped up and ran to the source of the noise. All they saw was a shade that Dipper quickly identified. "The Gremoblin. But... What's it doing here?"  
Wendy pointed at the cave the monster had left in such a hurry, while Mabel clung to her boyfriend. She probably wasn't as scared as she acted, she just wanted to be cute.  
But Dipper didn't look at his sister for long and instead followed Wendy's extended finger. What he saw drew a shocked gasp from him.  
"Oh no."  
"Aw, man." Bill pouted.  
The cave had been completely torn up. Only an unidentifiable mess of splinters, shards and pieces, impossible to puzzle back together. All destroyed.  
"But... But why?" stuttered Dipper, still trying to cope with the shock.  
"Something must have scared it." Soos said, as though stating a fact.  
"Yeah... But what?" Dipper resumed stuttering. He didn't realize that he had sunken on his knees, at least not until he felt his sister's hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.  
"Sorry, Dip." She breathed.  
"What are you apologizing for? This isn't your fault." He replied and got up again. "It's his!"  
Bill raised an eyebrow when he found Dipper pointing at him. "Rude." He said calmly.  
"Don't you see? It's a trick! He's playing us, been playing us, all along!" Dipper exclaimed furiously.  
"Dude, are you sure you're alright?" Wendy asked.  
"Absolutely. But he's not! Hell, I'm sure he's not even human!"  
Bill wasn't concerned in the slightest by these accusations. But Mabel was. Tears dwelled up in her eyes and she grabbed her boyfriend's hand, shooting her brother a disappointed glare.  
"You said you were going to give him a chance." She half spat-half whispered at him, before dragging her blond lover away with her. He tipped his hat lightly, but didn't bother to turn around.  
It took Dipper a moment to process what had just happened. "Mabel!" He then screamed. "Wait!" But he only took three running steps before giving up and staring at where she had left. It was hopeless anyway. Even if he could catch up to her, she wouldn't want to see him.  
As he turned around, suddenly breathing heavily, as if those few steps had robbed him of all his remaining energy, he found Wendy shaking her head at him.  
"I can understand that this is hard for you." She explained. "But that's no reason to go off on the guy like that." With that, she, too, left.  
A desperate gaze at Soos, who shrugged his shoulders.  
"Don't get me wrong, Dipper, you're a cool dude. But that... Just wasn't cool, dude."  
Soos left, too.  
They all left him.  
Alone.  
Dipper threw himself on the ground, unsure of what to do, when he felt the weight of the strange glasses in his pocket. He grabbed them and tossed them against the rocks, these shards quickly mingling with the other destruction.  
He remained like this for a few hours, before he finally found the energy to get up and drag himself back to the Shack.

Meanwhile, Mabel had been dragging her flamboyant lover through the woods, not even knowing where she was headed as long as it was far away from her brother.  
"Are you alright?" Bill asked after a while.  
"No. I mean, yes. No. I don't know!" She stopped and turned around to face him, her face hideously deformed from crying so much. She hated how it became when she started shedding tears. "I'm so sorry for my brother!"  
"Don't worry about it." He smiled and wiped her tears off her face with his fingers. He then licked the salty liquid off, but Mabel was crushing too hard to find any weirdness in that. "He only wants to protect you. I can understand that. He's your brother, after all. And I, I just might be some predator." He quickly pushed her until she felt the hard resistance of a tree in her back and sheepishly smiled up at her lover.  
"Just waiting to take advantage of you and rob you of your innocence. Who might know?" A low chuckle chimed from his throat before he hungrily took Mabel's lips. She smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around him before returning it softly. Quickly forgetting why she had been upset in the first place, she let him progress as he pleased, soon clinging to the tree as it provided the only support she had against his hard thrusts that were crushing into her from behind.  
Her moans, only rising in pitch as she neared her breaking point, eerily echoed in the eerily empty forest. She was blown to pieces once again and he emptied himself inside of her, soon after that. He heaved the girl, who was feeling too weak to walk by herself, on his back and carried her, she just snuggled tiredly against him, a dumbstruck post-orgasmic smile plastered to her face.  
She didn't notice the countless tiny eyes that had been watching them from the security of the bushes, but he did.


	8. In The Dark Of The Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guys! Guys! I found the plot! When I went to the store, I found him!  
> I grabbed him by his ear, dragged him home and spanked him good.  
> He promised to never leave again!

"Grunkle Stan, can he stay here for a bit?" Mabel had asked drowsily, trying to give her cutest puppy dog eyes, when Bill dropped her off at the Shack.  
"Absolutely not." had the old man instantly replied, picked his half-asleep niece up, that the denied blonde had so readily handed over, and was rewarded for his helpfulness by having the door slammed into his face, the loud noise almost drowning out Mabel's faint good night wish, before she drifted off for good.  
"Sleep well, Shooting Star." He had lilted softly and returned to the forests from whence he had just come.  
Soon, the darkness of the falling night darkened the shadows the tall trees drew on the ground, but the man had no problem seeing. Quickly finding what he was looking for, he reached into a bush and violently ripped the gnome from his hiding spot.  
The tiny creature hissed and flailed.  
"Put me down!" Jeff demanded. One of his arms was distorted in a way that was undoubtedly unnormal, even for paranormal creatures. Additionally, one of his eyes was black and swollen closed and the tiny body was covered with scratches.  
A brief, nonetheless highly amused laugh chimed from the blonde. "You're the living proof that gnomes shouldn't fly."  
"Put me down! Do you really think you can mess with us gnomes, just like tha-ACK." He was slammed into a tree mid-sentence. The friendly expression on the man's face had vanished.  
"You should know better than that, short fry. You should know your _place_." A soft hiss, a glint of anger in the one eye, the cat-like pupil fixed on the now trembling creature.  
"I'm sorry, so sorry... Please forgive me." whined the gnome.  
"Yeah, well about that." The playful lilt returned to the voice. It made the tiny bearded man's blood freeze with fear.  
"You ratted me out to that other brat, didn't you?" The fingers around the gnome's neck suddenly tightened, while the creature was easily lifted up, away from the support of the tree, hanging freely in the air, struggling desperately for air and its life.  
"What? No, I would nev-" A strained cough as the gnome's air supply was cut off completely. His eyes almost sprung out of their sockets and his face took on a blue tint.  
"My, what an ugly little liar you are."  
Desperate smacking against the hand that grasped the tiny creature so tightly. Bill loosened it a little, just enough to give the little man enough space to take a breath.  
"I had to. He has the whistle. Have you heard that thing? Its sound is a nightmare."  
"Oh." A generous laugh. "If you think something like _that_ is a nightmare, allow me to show you a real one."  
The flash of a crooked grin, teeth that seemed to glow in the darkness, the sound of a snapping finger, then his own scream of sheer, unadultered terror.  
These were the last impressions of Jeff the Gnome.  
"I hope you enjoyed the show, boys!" lilted Bill, as he turned around, eye impishly aglow. "Knowing what happens when you mess with someone who's way outta your league, as well as knowing in what good hands your little queen is now." His laughter still echoed long after he had left, making the leaderless gnomes tremble in fear.

Stan tried to carry his niece up the stairs to her bed, but came to the conclusion that she had gotten heavier over the past ten years and he hadn't exactly become much stronger himself, so, with a low sigh, he placed her on the couch and got her a blanket.  
"Seems fitting, since you and that boyfriend of yours ruined that thing." He then declared loudly, but did pet Mabel's head before leaving the room.  
Her lips curved into a slight smile.  
"Night, Grunkle Stan." she muttered and wrapped herself up like a taco.  
He sighed again as he left, thinking to himself how quickly they had grown up. How quick time had passed. 30, no, 40 years. And everything was lost.

Dipper was lying on his back, stretched out, sleeplessly staring at the ceiling.  
The wound on his hand was burning, so he eventually got up and went to the bathroom. He unwrapped the bandage and put some iodine on the wound. It burned and he hissed sharply at the sensation. When he looked up, he saw his own reflection, tousled, tired, a guilty look in his eyes.  
He had hurt Mabel.  
They were meant to reconnect during this vacation, but his paranoia had only driven them more apart than before.  
Angrily, he slammed the bottle of iodine on the floor, not caring if the noise would wake anyone up.  
He didn't even know if Mabel was home yet. Mabe her stupid boyfriend had raped her and slit her throat before leaving her body to rot among the trees.  
...Or he was just a nice guy who had taken her out on a date to calm her down. Like a good person would have done.  
Maybe he should have tried to run after her.  
Dipper sighed and went to pick the glass shards up. Maybe Mabel would get home later and he didn't want her to cut her feet because of his sudden outburst of emotion.  
Some of the shards had gotten out in the attic, so he went there to pick them up.   
Now, that calmness was settling over his mind, after he had been so upset this entire time, he realized just how tired he was.  
When his gaze met the strange pentagram he had drawn, he sighed. He didn't have the time to look at it now. Besides, he had done so for hours, without figuring it out.  
But, Dipper being Dipper, he couldn't resists a good mystery and this was way too good. So he crouched in the pale moonlight and stared at the runes. And finally, for the first time, they seemed somewhat recognizable. He had seen something like this before, he just knew it!  
He got up to grab a flash light and the Journal. And maybe a Pitt Cola.  
Cause this was gonna be a long night.

Even the longest night comes to an end, however, and when Mabel tiredly opened her eyes and stretched, still half asleep, ready to jump out of her bed and cheer the newborn day on, she was greeted with a more than unexpected sight - and immediately struck down by the shock of the aforementioned.  
"Good morning, marshmallow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> L DOZDBV VHH KLP VWDQGLQJ WKHUH  
> WKH VXQOLJKW FDXJKW LQ KLV ZKLWH KDLU.  
> L NQRZ ZKDW KH ZDQWV IURP PH  
> DQG L MXVW KRSH KH'G OHDYH PH EH.


	9. Child Psycho All Grown Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Man, I'm on fire tonight.

Mabel stared wide-eyed, but unable to move.  
No.  
It couldn't be.  
This had to be a dream, a horrible nightmare, one she would surely wake from any minute now.  
Any minute now.  
But she didn't wake and the thought, that this might be real, after all, slowly settled in.  
She must have been mumbling to herself, because he giggled - that all-too-familiar, cutesy giggle of his, that was so unlike his true self, which he would reveal after a while, before saying: "While it sure is a dream come true, I can assure you, my muffin, that it's not! I really am here!"  
He had grown, sure. But he was still the same old child psycho. Only that now he was a grown up psycho.  
Less chubby than he used to be, also somewhat tanned. Same Southern drawl, that she thought was kind of cute, but would never say it out loud. His nose, that reminded her of Waddles, and was also somewhat cute, also never to be said out loud, was also still there. As was that look in his round eyes. That glint of insanity, well-hidden behind a mask of cuteness, he still managed to maintain perfectly.  
His oddly white hair still towering above his head, something he had once written in one of the letters he had been sending her from jail, most of which she burned unopened, took him 45 minutes to get right.  
"I don't trust anyone whose hair is bigger than their head!" had Dipper once said. And he had been right. So painfully right.  
She swallowed, forcing herself to speak calmly, although her fingers were digging into the blanket.  
"What are you doing here, Gideon?"  
"I've come to see you, of course! When I heard that you were in the area, I couldn't help but drop by!"  
Her throat felt strangely dried up as she asked: "How did you get in?"  
Another brief laugh. "Why, I picked the lock of the door, of course." Suddenly, he leaned closer. She flinched before finding his face so uncomfortably close to hers. She could even feel his warm breath on her skin. "Couldn't let a door get in the way of our love, right?"  
She pushed him away.  
"It's over, Gideon. It has been over for ten years. Let it go."  
"How could I let the love of my life go?" he breathed, unlatching a hand to wander through her hair, twirling a strand between his fingers.  
"Let it go." she repeated and tore her hair from him.  
He narrowed his eyes, all that friendliness had suddenly vanished from his face.  
"Your family's still between us, I see."  
"It's not my family's fault!" She got up, miraculously without touching him, and took a step back. Mabel then took a deep breath, before she continued. "It's you."  
Gideon's eyes widened in shock, but only for a moment. He took a step toward her, his hand extended. "Marshmallow, I-"  
"Don't touch me!" She yelled, hoping to wake somebody up, somebody, who would come to help her.  
And that someone came.  
"Mabel?" Dipper came running down the stairs, worried, almost panicked, by the scream. Simultaneously, another door opened and Stan peeked in.  
"Mabel?" He, too, asked.  
"Why, Stanford." Gideon smiled. "And Dipper."  
His words brought the male twin to halt in his motions.  
"What are you doing here?" Dipper asked in surprise.  
"Why, I recently got out on parole and decided to come back to destroy Mabel's whole family in front of her eyes, before making her my queen and ruling this place together with her, of course." Another laugh chimed from him, as he explained his completely lunatic plan so conversationally, as if he were talking about the weather.  
"You're insane." Mabel hissed. "It'll never work."  
"Oh, you think just because I don't have the Journal", Stan twitched slightly, "any more, I'm less of a threat?" Gideon smiled and reached into his pocket.  
Stan slammed the door open and revealed a gun, which he pointed at the intruder.  
Still smiling, the intruder did the same.  
Both men pointed the guns at each other, their hands deadly calm, their aim perfect.  
"You are so adorably naive." Gideon laughed. "I missed that."  
The twins were frozen in shock.  
From the corner of his eye, Dipper saw the front door opening and wanted to stop it, somehow, but it was too late. It opened. Wendy was there.  
And Soos.  
Dipper was worried to near death. He didn't want his friends in here, they might get hurt! There was a lunatic with a gun in there - and Stan. Two guns, his sister in the middle.  
"Go away!" He hissed and tried to close the door.  
"Come on, dude. We wanted to apologize for yesterday." Soos sulked.  
"You got some apologizing to do, too. Mostly to Mabel." Wendy said, wedging a foot between door and angle, to keep it open just a little bit.  
"What's even going on?"  
"No, seriously, this is not the time!" Dipper whispered.  
"Why? Something the matter?"  
"She's adorable, alright."  
"It just keeps getting worse." Dipper groaned.  
"What? Why?" Soos tried to wegde his chubby self through the door and catch a glance at what was going on in the living room.  
Gideon and Stan, as well as Mabel, had immediately turned her heads to see the source of those words. Mabel was the only one smiling.  
"Bill!"  
The blond smiled as he climbed through the window and casually strolled to his girlfriend, before putting an arm around her shoulder. She immediately clung to him, even moreso, when Gideon, whose expression was completely blank, pointed the gun at Bill.  
"So. You're that guy the gnomes told me about. The one who is defiling my sugarcube."  
"Yup. That's me." Bill grinned. "Looking good, chub-chub. Didya lose weight? Oh, you can't tell, but I'm winking."  
"Bill..." Mabel snuggled closer. "He's got a gun."  
"I can see that. It's a nice gun. Smith & Wesson, if I'm correct. One of the older models, even. Cute."  
Dipper was paralyzed with fear for his sister, his thoughts frantically looping in what immense danger she currently was, and thus forgot to keep an eye on the door, so Soos and Wendy pushed it open and got in. He only noticed when he heard their surprised gasps right next to his ear.  
"H-How do you know?" Gideon screamed, his voice filled with panic. But the more scared he got, the calmer grew Bill.  
"Oh, I know lots of things."  
Stan used the distraction goldilocks was giving him, to aim for Gideon's gun-wielding hand. Just as his finger bent around the trigger however, he heard the shot. And Bill sunk to his knees, his legs suddenly robbed of the strength to support his weight any more.  
"Bill" Mabel screamed. Gideon was breathing heavily, pointing the still smoking gun at the man, who was blankly staring at him, an ugly red stain on his flashy yellow suit. It was getting bigger and bigger.  
"Bill..." Mabel whispered as he hit the ground. She barely noticed the tears in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around him, to feel the rest of his fading warmth.  
"Well. He certainly won't be getting between us any more." Gideon stated. He then broke into unstable laughter. "I did it!" He screamed. "I really did it!"  
Stan was too shocked to even think about pulling the trigger. Dipper, Wendy and Soos were as frozen with fear.  
Stunned.  
Still trying to believe the unbelievable.  
Bill was dead.  
He had been shot in front of their very eyes, by a very much insane Gideon, who was still very much wielding a gun.  
"Well." Soos couldn't help but state. "He's definitely not an immortal demon of pure energy."

Dipper was unable to respond. Especially when he realized that the white-haired psychopath was now pointing the weapon at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I gotta change the tags on this one, don't I.


	10. Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dun-dun-duuuun

Mabel stared at the dead body of her boyfriend. "Bill." She whispered and ran a hand through his blond hair, knocking the top hat off. It fell to the ground.  
He wasn't breathing.  
The blood stain on his suit had stopped growing.  
Wendy, Dipper, Stan and Soos were as paralyzed as she was.  
It took them a moment to realize that Gideon's maniacal laughter had stopped and he was now aiming for Dipper.  
"You won't get between us _ever again_ , Dipper Pines!" screamed the angry former child psychic.  
And pulled the trigger.  
Dipper stared at the bullet, it was as if time would slow down and he could actually _see_ it, while his thoughts were racing through his head, but his body remained frozen.  
Mabel...! Wendy...! Soos...! Grunkle Stan, too! He had so much that he had still wanted to tell them, every single one of them, but now he would never get the chance to do so.  
Dipper gulped.  
He wasn't exactly prepared, but he was going to face death, like a man.  
All that and more exploded in his cranium in a split second.  
But the bullet stopped.  
It simply floated in mid-air.  
Now everyone's gazes were drawn to the tiny piece of metal, instead of the dead body.  
A sound resonated through the room. It caused the air to vibrate and the world briefly turned monochrome, for as long as the sound could be heard.  
First, Mabel thought she was losing her mind.  
But there it was again. The sound, like a strangely echoing heartbeat, and then, all colors fading.  
Gideon started to shake uncontrollably, looking around. His face was suddenly filled with fear.  
From the corner of her eye, Mabel noticed her Grunkle staring at the man in her arms, whispering: "So he really is..."  
"A being of pure energy with no weaknesses."  
A distorted cackle replaced the steady sounds of a beating heart and Bill's body slowly rose again, as if being pulled up by puppet strings. She backed away and didn't dare to touch him, afraid to somehow disturb and stop this miraculous ressurection.  
Only that it wasn't a miracle.  
These words had shaken a memory awake. Ten years ago. The theater. Her brother. His eyes were yellow, his grin unnaturally wide, especially by Dipper's standards. She remembered the threats, the triangular monster inside the boy growing impatient, demanding the Journal. He had said these words. Just like Bill, the man she had been pretty sure she loved until just now, had said them. Even though he should be dead.  
 _"My body is burning."_ Now she remembered where she had heard that before. And suddenly, it wasn't cute any more.  
The same wide grin that she had seen on her brother during this horrible episode was now on Bill.  
Bill, who was Bill.  
Just how could she have been so blind.  
He glanced at the top hat on the ground, picked it up, dusted it off and placed it on his head, as if he hadn't just been shot. As if this was perfectly normal. And not at all weird. Gideon gasped.  
"So the gnomes were right. They said you got a human body! But how?"  
The demon didn't even bother to respond to Gideon. Instead, he raised a hand that immediately started burning with a blue flame. He held it close to the bullet hole in his chest and let out a breathy sigh, a sound that reminded Mabel of the sound he made when he was at his peak, when the bullet left his body and flew in his hand.  
The bullet hovering near Dipper hit the ground as the blue flames disappeared.  
The young man gulped.  
"It was a really ooooold ritual I found." Bill then said, examining the blood stained bullet between his fingers.  
Somehow, his entire being suddenly seemed different. Teeming with energy. And much more smug than before.  
"All I needed was a little blood donation and Pine Tree was generous enough to provide me with that."  
Dipper silently raised his bandaged hand.  
"So you knew?" Wendy asked in surprise.  
"I wasn't sure." He replied. "He must have possessed me somehow. Got me to draw the pentagram and runes for the ritual, then made me bite myself. Until last night, I wasn't even sure what they meant."  
"So you were right all along." Soos stated. "Sorry, dude."  
"Yeah, man." Wendy nodded. "Sorry."  
Dipper couldn't help but smile sheepishly.  
Mabel was shaking with fear.  
"Enough!" Gideon screamed. He, too, was shaking. Now aiming at Bill, again. But before he got a chance to pull the trigger, Stan did.  
He emptied the entire magazine into the demon.  
Too bad that none of the bullets actually hit him. All of them froze in mid-air, just like the one aimed for Dipper had, mere minutes ago.  
Bill smiled widely.  
"Shit!" screamed Stan and tossed the now useless weapon. It stopped next to its bullets, before all of them simply fell to the ground, as the puppeteer holding their strings had lost interest in them.  
Mabel whinced as Bill got up, but he didn't even look at her. He went straight for Gideon, who was a cringing mess by the time the demon was towering above him.  
"So, the little shyster decided to come back?" Bill was grinning widely. His face looked like it was about to crack in two.  
"I-I'm warning you!" Gideon stuttered, pointing the gun at the demon, who just shot it a bored look.  
"Too bad you had to get in my way in this crucial phase, really." Bill tilted his head slightly, cupped his cheek and smiled almost compassionately. "But hey." He gave a dismissive shrug. "Can't have people get in my way, y'know. So do me a solid and don't take this too personal." Bill extended a hand, it hovering above the young man's white-haired head.  
Gideon stared at it with wide eyes, sweat running down his face. "Wh-what are you g-"  
"It's just business." The demon stated in his chipper voice. Then, his eye flashed blue and Gideon let out a scream that abruptly ended when he was everywhere.  
The man had transformed into a mess of bones, blood and organs, that had splattered all across the room.  
Bill stared evenly at the remains of legs beneath him.  
Wendy let out a half scream-half sob and fell to her knees, writhing.  
Soos was too shocked to even process what was going on. He stared blankly ahead, mouth wide agape.  
Dipper stared at the remains of his archnemesis all over him and threw up before he even knew it.  
Bill flashed a wide smile at the three, then turned around.  
Mabel, her eyes still filled with tears, whinced, when his gaze met hers.  
The demon smiled again, then walked calmly to the gift shop.  
Stan did nothing to stop him. It was hard to see, but he was trembling.  
Dipper raised his head to see the inhuman monster wearing the mask of a man trying to get away and wanted to follow him, but the now uncontrollably sobbing Wendy had grabbed his ankle. She needed comfort. She needed him. Dipper was conflicted.  
Mabel took the chance. The demon's smile had snapped her out of it, now she was just determined to get him and stop whatever he was up to.  
He was going to pay for having played her like that.  
She burst through the door and saw him standing in front of the vending machine.  
He smiled sweetly, not at all bothered by the screeching noise it made as it slowly moved aside, as if that secret mechanism Mabel had never known of, but could not currently bother to be surprised by, hadn't been used in years, and revealed a secret stairway, dusty and filled with cobwebs.  
She could feel her heart beat heavily against her ribs as she saw his smile.  
It was just a trick! she told herself.  
And tackled him.  
They fell.  
She felt the cobwebs stroke over her face and coughed as some of them got into her mouth. Mabel heard her brother and her great uncle scream her name, then the vending machine slid close and swallowed all light.  
Something blue flickered beside her in the darkness and she realized that she had pushed Bill on the stairs and was now trapped here with him.  
She was currently sitting on him, basically straddling him and she could feel his warmth.  
There was still that part of her that just wanted to snuggle against him, but her rational part stood its ground for once and forced her to glare at him. It was pitch black, but she was convinced that he was able to see her, anyway.

Probably watching her right now.  
About to turn her into nothing but blood splatters, like he had done with Gideon.

"Mabel!" Dipper banged his fists against the vending machine. Stan pushed him aside and entered a code, but the machine only made a somewhat resigned sound, shook slightly, but other than that, it didn't move.  
"It's stuck. Damn demon must've blocked it." He growled.  
"Grunkle Stan, what _is_ this?" Dipper asked, feeling himself come dangerously close to hysteria.  
"Or it's just too old. It's been so many years." The old man's eyes were filled with a strange sadness as he leaned against the machine. "Grunkle Stan!" Dipper repeated, more vigorously this time. He hated to interrupt his Grunkle like this, but there was no time. Stan sighed. "It's something I've been keeping from you. Something I hoped you'd never have to see. I've been working on it for a couple years now. But then, that earth quake basically destroyed it all, so I've no idea what that triangular bastard wants down there."  
"You know Bill?!" There was the hysteria.  
Stan nodded slowly. "I do."  
Dipper had ditched Wendy in her most vulnerable moment, to save his sister. He had failed and now she was trapped in some secret passageway with an insane brain demon who could tear people apart with a snap of his fingers.  
Hysteria seemed justified.  
Nonetheless he forced himself to take a breath and calm down before asking the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question:  
"What is it that you've been working on down there?"


	11. The Fault In Our Shooting Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter.  
> Tear-jerking, full of suspense and thrilling conclusions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't believe we've come this far.  
> It's certainly been an interesting journey.  
> ¡ǝpᴉsdᴉlɟ ǝɥʇ uo noʎ ǝǝS

It was dark.  
Pitch black.  
It was also warm.  
It was the warmth of the man who was no man at all, but rather a terrible monster, beneath her.  
Part of her enjoyed being this close to him.  
As much as she tried to deny it, it was brain versus heart, emotions versus reason.  
She gasped in surprise as he suddenly moved, pushed her off him and pinned her down instead.  
Mabel felt the stairs push against her back, hard and unforgiving.  
And the demon above her. Not as hard, but even more unforgiving.  
Legs came down to cage her hips, his weight had her pinned and unable to move.  
She looked at where she believed his face to be.  
"Aw, let me help you out."  
There was an amused tone in his voice. Not at all threatening.  
He didn't sound like a superpowered paranormal being who had just killed a man with the flick of his wrist.  
Suddenly, everything turned monochrome as the demon dragged her into the Mindscape.  
His world.  
It was not nearly as dark, so she could see him, the only source of color in this black and white world, aside from herself, just fine.  
Mabel looked around, feeling slightly awkward, tried, to wedge herself out from under him, but he wouldn't budge.  
He just watched her. Obviously amused.  
"Bill." She finally said, looking at him. He returned the gaze unhesitantly.  
"What do you- What is-" She took a deep breath. "You lied to me."  
He smiled widely.  
"You faked everything."  
His happy expression said more than a thousand words. Everything blurred from the tears dwelling up in her eyes.  
"Why?" She gagged on this simple word. She didn't really want to know. She wished she had never woken up this morning. Bill would still be just a human, odd, yet charming, her brother would be a paranoid ass and Gideon somewhere, hopefully far away, not that she really cared, but at least he would be _alive_.  
Everything would be perfect.  
"This isn't the movies, toots." He replied calmly. "I'm not one of these big-screen Hollywood villains, who reveal their entire plan just in time to be foiled."  
She reached up, grabbed his collar and pulled him down, closer to her.  
She wanted to feel him. And she hoped he might actually care for her, just a little, just a bit. Maybe he'd fall for it.  
At least the look in his eye had changed. Now it was intrigued more than anything else.  
His lips, _his wonderful lips,_ curved into a smirk.  
"Hitting the clichés might be fun." He breathed.  
"You possessed Dipper?"  
"Starting at the beginning. Good call, Shooting Star."  
The nickname left her surprisingly cold. No blushing, no fuzzy feeling in her stomach. She forced herself to evenly stare at him. Even though she could feel his breath on her skin, his words warmly hitting against her.  
"It was more like high-level telekinesis. It's easy to pull off when you're me." A brief laugh interrupted his speech. "I controlled his limbs. Simple trick, not quite possession. He wouldn't have agreed to that and possessing someone without a deal is..." Bill grimaced. "But I needed that ritual, that small donation of blood, for a physical form of my own."  
"Why didn't you do that earlier?"  
"By the time you left my reach ten years ago, I hadn't dug the old ritual up yet. But I figured you wouldn't be able to make much progress outside of Gravity Falls and away from all the hot leads."  
"You possessed McGucket." It wasn't a question and the demon grinned at that. He was playing.  
Thumbs grazing over her cheek had her blushing.  
Definitely playing.  
"I did." A purr.  
The blushing grew brighter. Another half-hearted attempt at struggling herself free. It failed. Not exactly a surprise.  
"Had some fun, then got him hit by a bus. It was easier than possessing Pine Tree and stomping on his head before he'd remember anything."  
"Why do you want to stop us from finding the auth-"  
His index finger touched her lips. Gently. She stopped talking immediately and stared at him.  
"I picked you for a number of reasons. Your brother's still into Red and this whole thing was going to take a while, so possession was out of the question, since no one in their right mind would let me take over their body a second time and as I said before, stuff like that needs a deal." A sound similar to a sigh. His finger traced along her lips to keep her quiet.  
Her heart was pounding against her ribcage, Mabel was sure that Bill was feeling it. But if he was, he ignored it.  
"You're closest to him. And you are so desperate for love, so starved..." A brief chuckle that sent shivers down her spine. "It was too easy. The gnomes were playing right into my hands. I just had to play knight in shining armor and you'd be falling for me. Having you fall for real only added to that."  
"You made me faint." She breathed against his finger.  
"Simple trick. Then, I'd coincidentally meet you again, take you home and..." Disembodied cackling echoed through the Mindscape as he ground against her, the sudden movement had her gasping for air. She gasped again as she felt him whisper into her ear. "Having things escalate a little was the quickest way to gain access to your heart and bedroom. Also, it was fun." He shrugged dismissively. "I didn't find what I was looking for, so I had to come back."  
"The other times was just for fun then." Another statement rather than a question.  
"Bingo." His voice had turned into a soft lilt, that actually helped her picture that man as the triangular demon. "It did a great job at keeping you from thinking too much. Love leaves people blind. Even those with two eyes."  
She instinctively closed her eyes as she felt his fingers wander higher. He drew an X over her eyes with the blood of Gideon she had still on her.  
Mabel shivered from both, the disgust as well as his touch. Knowing that he was an otherworldly monster did little to impress her heart.  
"And again, it was fun. Really fun. Though when I was humiliating the gnomes a little, they took it too far, alarmed the meddling brat and he just had to get in my way and ruin the element of surprise."  
Finally, Bill pulled away and pouted. "I had such a nice entrance set up and everything and the little shyster ruins everything."  
"What are you after?"  
"I gave you so many answers. Don't you think I should be getting something in return?" There was a glint in his eye she didn't quite recognize. It seemed to pierce her skull and stare right into her soul.  
The tone of his voice had her stiffening.  
He stared at her for a few uncomfortable moments in which she couldn't decide if she really wanted him to sleep with her now, or to get up and get out of her life, when he made the choice himself.  
The demon got up and laughed.  
"Your face is too adorable!"  
"What?" Mabel tilted her head as she looked at him. "And what... are you gonna do to me now?"  
"Nothing, really. No need. There's nothing you can do to stop me at this point." He explained as he turned and walked down the stairs.  
She jumped on her legs and followed him. As he didn't ask about that, she did.  
"Aren't you going to stop me?"  
Another laugh. "Why should I? The more the merrier! Besides, three eyes see more than one." A short break, that quickly filled with more echoing laughter. "Just pulling your leg."  
Down the stairs was a larger room, filled with debris.  
"Was that the earthquake?"  
The demon just rubbed his hands together and grinned at the obstacle.

"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper grabbed the old man's shoulders and shook him. "What is this?"  
"The one thing I always hoped you'd never find." A sigh drawled from Stanford's chapped lips.  
"What-?"  
"It's a portal. It's also the place where I lost my brother. I hoped I could get him back, and when I got your Journal, ten years ago, I was so close... So close." The man's gaze turned downward and Dipper slowly realized just how broken his Great Uncle truly was.  
"But then, a blackout happened and the portal, that was requiring lots and lots of energy, shut down. I could keep it running manually, on fuel, but that slowed it down significantly. And then, that earthquake happened." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "The whole place suddenly came crashing down on me. I couldn't even grab the Journals-"  
"Wait, what?"  
"-I had to get out of there as quick as possible. Some of the junk coming down hit me anyway and I had to go to the hospital. You might remember that."  
"I do, but-"  
"Well, when I got back out, I could rebuild the Mystery Shack, but there was no way to go back down there. The debris had made it impossible to get far and I couldn't exactly let people down there to help me clear it away, unlike the rest of the Shack. That's the only consolation I have, that Bill's at a dead end."  
 _"You know Bill?!"_ Dipper practically screamed.  
"Unfortunately."  
"Well, do you know what he might do to Mabel, if he doesn't get what he wants?! He might just let it out on her! I can't let him do that! I have to get down there, I have to help her!" The young man grabbed the vending machine and tried to pull it away, but his sweaty fingers slipped off the automaton. He kicked the machine in a brief fit of rage and it rattled tiredly, but didn't budge.  
"You have the Journals?" Dipper started again, the desperation had him sink against the machine.  
"Number 1 and 2. I didn't have the second one until Gideon dropped it though."  
"And the first?"  
"I've been keeping that one for 30- no, 40 years."  
Dippr sighed. "I tried to figure that out, you know. What had happened back then. But I failed."  
"So have I. Don't let it get you down." Stan attempted a smile. It was crooked and overall just sad.  
"So, there's nothing we can do to help her?"  
"I know how you feel, kid. Trust me. It's horrible. Eating you up from the inside."  
"Kinda is."  
"That helpless feeling..."  
"I couldn't forgive myself if something happened to her."  
"...Yeah."  
Dipper slid down on the machine. He felt something dwell up in his eyes and quickly wiped it away.  
His Grunkle sighed again.  
"Better get used to it."

The sudden darkness had Mabel gasping. When she heard a bunch of sounds she couldn't recognize, she tried to locate Bill somewhere in the darkness. He had turned reality back on, if she could even call it that, and left her in the dark. Quite literally.  
She hated that.  
She wondered if she could use some sort of super hearing or super feeling to find him. Like a bat. Or some animal with hypersensoric abilities.  
Besides, wasn't the darkness supposed to render her other senses superior?  
A blue flame lit up not too far from her.  
"This way."  
She followed the light, not daring to think about it being a ghost light or anything meant to drive her to her doom.  
Instead, the light led her to an elevator. The flame lit the outlines of two doors that slowly slid open, creaking, tearing some spider webs that had been built between them apart. She could also see the sillhouette of Bill, holding the flame in his hand. His other hand was on a control panel or the like, but quickly retracted as he stepped into the elevator.  
Mabel followed him, as she fought the urge to cling to his arm.  
The flickering light illuminated his face, although it seemed even more otherworldly in the glow of the blue flame. A wide smile was plastered to his face. He didn't even blink as the doors slowly closed, making it sound like that little movement alone was unberably painful for them.  
They reminded Mabel of old people, forcing themselves to work out in order to avoid rusting where they stood. Sometimes it sounded like every step they made themselves jog brought them closer to their death than just sitting back and enjoying the eve of their life would.  
"Did you cause that earthquake?" She asked, feeling the metal cabin shakily move, hoping it would not suddenly send her plummetting to her doom.  
"Actually, that was sheer luck. Though I'd seen it coming. I had to make a little time though, to make sure it would crush Stanford's plans as much as I kinda hoped it would crush his spine."  
"You know, I'm getting a feeling that you know my Grunkle."  
The demon turned to face her, shooting her a crooked grin. "Oh, you have no idea."  
She stared at him as the cabin came to a creaking halt and the doors forced themselves to open, revealing more pitch black darkness. The flame in Bill's palm grew bigger and illuminated the way quite well, as he started walking and she followed close, wanting to stay close to the light, much like a moth. She could sense shards and more pieces of debris lurking in the darkness, but the demon steered clear of all those.  
"Remember, oh, what's his face, Toot-Toot McBumbersnazzle?" Another one of those dismebodied cackles echoed.  
"The Blindeye-guy!" Mabel gasped.  
"Bingo. Him. He was getting so sad with his utter lack of memories of anything that he was all eager to make a deal. In exchange for a puppet. No biggie, right?" Bill tipped his head back and laughed. "Well, it was different when the puppet turned out to be him. That's how it always goes though. Well, I threw my newest plaything into a main generator. Since the baby sleeping in here requires a lot of energy and robbing it of that was the best way to keep it asleep."  
"You killed two people I knew." She stated dryly. It felt strange. A sting of guilt in her heart. "Three, counting Gideon."  
"Four, counting that cheeky gnome."  
"You really... You'd really go over bodies for this?"  
"Oh, trust me, it's worth it."  
He suddenly stopped and she bumped against him. He didn't seem to mind at all. Instead, he turned to a small table, cracked, partially broken, that had two books lying on it, miraculously unharmed.  
Despite the dusty covers and the cobwebs, seemingly trying to keep the books in place, she recognized them at first glance. Even though she had never seen them before.  
"The Journals!"  
"It's been too long." Bill said in a sing-song voice, picked the first volume up, gently sliding a finger over the dusty cover, revealing the number on the six-fingered hand, before blowing the dust off the book, that didn't look as tattered as the other two.  
The demon slid the book into his blood-stained jacket and repeated the procedure with the second book, still balancing the only source of light in his other hand. The flame sent shadows dancing against the walls and Mabel saw a picture on the ground. Curious, she picked it up, wiped the dirt and dust off the cracked frame and felt her heart sink as she saw what it was. A photograph of herself and Dipper. Back when they had been here for the first time. When everything had been peaceful. No demons, Journals and conspiracies.  
"Pines Twins 2.0." Bill said as he glanced over her shoulder, at the photograph. She whinced as the sound of his voice tore her out of her memory and almost dropped the picture. To avoid that, she slid it into her pouch.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Your Grunkle's been keeping a lot from you. If you would turn this way." His hand on her shoulder gently pushed against her and as she turned her head, the Dreamscape activated again. She could see this entire room. There was only that small path left, that they had come. Everything else was covered in debris. Impossible to get through. Sharp and pointy thing were pointing in all directions, pipes had broken out of the wall, cables were bare, but long void of any electricity and therefore no harm. The ceiling must have been really thick, considering there was still some of it left, while simultaneously, so much of it was down here.  
Behind the table they were standing at, was a window. Behind that, another room. In there, a strange, triangular thing.  
"Wow. What _is_ that?"  
"It's a portal." Bill sounded proud. Almost as if he was talking about something he had built himself.  
Mabel stared at it. "It's... broken?"  
"Not activated. Shut down. And never going to work again." Amusement caked his voice until it was almost dripping from his words. He sounded so ...eager. And evil. Downright evil.  
"What-"  
He placed his hands on her back and pushed her back to the elevator. "Now, now, Shooting Star, we don't want your brother to worry too much, do we?" Back to the chipper voice.  
"Waitwaitwaitwait!" She screamed and struggled, but stopped moving entirely when it went dark again. After all, she didn't want to impale her hand with debris.

"I'm sorry." Dipper said, as he heard steps behind him. He didn't even turn around.  
Wendy sat down besides him. "It's alright. I don't blame you." She smiled, but there was a sadness in her eyes, that made Dipper want to slap himself. He had been so stupid! This would've been his chance at Wendy. Probably the only one he would ever get. But he ditched it, and tried to save his sister instead. Something he had also failed at.  
"Where's Mabel?"  
He silently pointed at the machine. "She's behind there. But it's stuck."  
"Hey, don't worry about her."  
Wendy smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder.  
"She's tough. I'm sure she can handle herself."  
He looked at her. His eyes were empty. Wendy hadn't any blood on her, but if he looked deeply enough into her eyes, he could see the shock of having witnessed the untimely death of a young man at the hands of a paranormal beast. She was trying to mask that terror, just like she had always masked the stress she had been under, back then. _Back then._  
It suddenly sounded so promising. Dipper would give so much if only he could go back to the good old days, when he had been a naive little boy, not knowing just what he had been toying with.  
He felt something move behind him and Wendy and Stan quickly grabbed him and pulled him aside, just as the machine reluctantly swung aside and revealed its secrets.  
"Mabel!" Dipper shouted. He was so relieved, there were no words to describe it. It was as if a boulder had been chained to his heart, dragging it down, but was now cut off, setting the metaphorical organ free. She was there, she was alive, she wasn't harmed!  
Aside from a strange cross that had been drawn over her eyes with blood, but she was looking fine. The only thing that kept Dipper from glomping his beloved sister, whom he thought lost, to the ground, was Bill, standing right behind her.  
Dipper wasn't the only one bothered by that.  
A growling sound reached his ear and as he looked around to locate the source, he realized it was Stan who was growling.  
"Release my niece."  
"Sure thing." Bill smiled widely, but as Mabel took a step toward her family, he wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her close to him. Her cheeks tinged bright crimson at his touch.  
"On one condition."  
"What do you want?" Stan tried to seem tough, but Dipper saw the worry in the old man's eyes. Heard the fear in his voice.  
And Bill had, no doubt, heard it too. He grinned as his cat eye shifted to Dipper.  
"Give me the book."  
"What? Never!"  
Still grinning, radiating an almost unnatural calmness, the demon raised a hand and placed it on Mabel's head. She was trembling in his grasp, tears streamed down her still reddened cheeks.  
"Really, kid? Sacrificing your sister for the unlikely chance of discovering some secrets that weren't meant for you? I just wanna complete the collection."  
"You got the other books?" Stan asked, excitedly.  
"Got 'em right here. Kinda like your niece. Now, you can either give me the last piece of that puzzle, or I'll give you a whole new one. I hope you'll enjoy piecing your sister together. Maybe have a little more luck with that, than that other one, too." He laughed harshly.  
Mabel's eyes were darting around the place in panic. She was obviously unsure of what to choose. Her hands wandered into her pouch, where she felt the resistance of that photograph push against her fingers. And made a choice.  
Mabel quickly grabbed the picture and slammed it against the demon's head. He was too surprised to keep his grasp on her, so she freed, pushed him into the darkness of the corridor, heard him slamming against the wall and ran to her brother. He quickly stepped in front of her, as did their Grunkle, to protect her. But Mabel was far from done yet. While Bill was rubbing his hurting, bleeding head, she reached into her brother's backpack and pulled the Journal out, held it highly into the air and presented it like a trophy.  
"Nobody moves!"  
This did actually gain her everybody's undistributed attention. Even Bill remained silent, just staring at her, his eye widened with shock.  
She opened another compartment of the backpack and pulled out a book of matches, just before Dipper turned around to stare at her in disbelief.  
"You're not getting this Journal, Bill! Never!" She shouted and lit the match, the flame shining on her determined face.  
"Mabel, no!"  
"Don't do that!"  
"No no no, wait, no!"  
"Think again!"  
"Dawg, no!"  
Dipper's, Stan's and Bill's panic-filled voices mixed and even Wendy and Soos, who had joined them, were shaking their heads at her and gesturing her to stop.  
But there was no stopping Mabel.  
She was on fire.  
Never had she felt more alive than in this short second, pushing the flame against the Journal.  
She quickly died on the inside when nothing happened.  
Just as Dipper was snapping out of the shock that had him frozen, the book caught on fire. The dried pages burned quickly, even the thick leather cover, that had initially absorbed the tiny flame, burned. Almost reluctantly. But the pages were more than happy to give up their existence, scribbled with the secret dark side of a small town in Oregon.  
Dipper snatched the Journal from Mabel. He looked angry. For a second or so, she almost thought he was going to slap her. But he was too busy staring at the book in shock, watching it crumble to pieces in his hands, letting out a brief yelp as the flames reached his fingers and he had to drop the remains and watch the flames greedily devour those, too. Until nothing was left.  
Bill was the first to break the silence that followed.  
"You."  
His growling voice made Mabel take a step back. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure if what she had done had really been the right thing. Maybe she'd just made a terrible mistake. The worst of her life. Possibly the last.  
"Do you know what you just did?"  
Her heart was beating fast. Too fast? It was threatening to crush her ribs. She gulped, but there was this knot in her throat that made it almost impossible. It was also making it hard to breathe. She wanted to take another step back, but her legs were shaking too heavily.  
And then, the growling, the anticipation that had been in the air, tensing it up like static energy, that had made her feel like her hair was going to form a curly mountain on her head if it held on for a few more seconds, faded.  
It just went away.  
Two seconds passed and it was replaced by a sound.  
A soft laughing.  
It quickly increased in volume, soon deafening, heard all throughout the room, spiraling high into the sky, resounding from every corner, echoing eerily so.  
Bill pulled the remaining two Journals out of his jacket, one in each hand, as he slowly stepped towards the girl. Dipper was still in the was, but he was shaking and jumped aside when the two books simultaneously caught on blue fire, so powerful, the flame threatening to lick across the young man's face.  
"You've done me a great favor." By the time Bill had reached the shaking mess that was Mabel, the books had both transformed into ashes. He grabbed her shoulders, the flames extinguished the second he did, and pulled her close.  
"Thanks, Shooting Star. You really do make wishes come true." He lilted as he hugged her.  
Mabel didn't know what to say. She was still trembling.  
The laughter was still there. It sounded so full of itself, so smug, it was sickening.  
"I, I didn't meant to-!" She screamed, tearing herself away from him, looking at the demon full of spite.  
There was a disappointment in Dipper's eyes that crushed her under its silent weight.  
"Oh, I know that! Doesn't change the fact that you played right into my hands, anyway. Thanks for that! Now that all that's outta the way, it's time for me to take my leave." *He took his head off and took a deep bow as a portal shining with otherworldy light opened beneath him. His body flickered and seemed to slowly dissintegrate in it.  
"Gonna miss this baby, no doubt." Mabel heard him mutter. "Then again, I've had my share of these things for a while. Walking, bleh."  
"That's it? You're leaving? Just like that?"  
"Sure, why not?" He grinned as he put his hat back on and grinned widely. "After all, I'm done with you guys." Bill ached his back and stared creepily at Stan. "I'll make sure to say _Stanley_ hi from you!"  
"You monster." Stan replied quietly. Although he did whince at the mention of that name. But he was defeated. Mabel saw it in his eyes. He had given up. He was broken. He had lost it all and there was no chance to ever get it back. He had lost. And no more strength to start again. Game over.  
Mabel wanted to give him a hug, but felt something around her neck, pulling her back. The portal was right besides her.  
Bill had summoned a black cane and used it to snatch her. His whisper in her ear made her shiver.  
"With your bad luck in love, you should really consider gambling."  
Then, that cryptic message being said, he released her. Tipped his hat again, smiling widely. The body flickered one last time, revealing the happy triangle, that was floating at about the height of the sternum, giving a friendly waver, before the light grew blindingly bright and she had to close her eyes.  
When she opened them, he was gone.

The rest of the summer passed by. It was peaceful. But boring. It tasted bland and felt overall like bubblegum, void of any taste, that you just keep chewing for the sake of keeping your jaws busy.  
Mabel often woke up screaming, seeing Gideon or Bill in her dreams, burning books and her brother exploding into guts and blood.  
She could only assume that Dipper was struggling with the same problems. He had moved out after that incident. She couldn't help the thought that he secretly blamed her for the loss of the Journal. For the loss of Wendy. And for the loss of Grunkle Stan, who hadn't been the same since that fateful day. Who Stanley was remained as much of a mystery as the identity of the author.  
Wendy moved to Portland, somewhere she had even wanted to go, apparently. Soos returned to his job, whatever that was, Mabel hadn't listened when he had first told them about it.  
The summer was filled with disappointments, boredom and apologies. And though Dipper always claimed that everything was alright, it wasn't her fault and he didn't blame her for being tricked by a demon, she knew he was lying. He was hurt, sad and frustrated and didn't know who else to blame than her. He didn't want to, sure, but it was the only logical choice, considering Bill hadn't shown up again.  
When they parted at the end of the summer, they shared one last awkward sibling hug.  
"Pat pat."  
Knowing that it would be their last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a story of failures.  
> Resulting in one girl's failure to grow up.
> 
> I was going to ask you if you'd prefer a lighter ending or the pitch black dark one that feels like a punch in the gut.  
> Guess which one I went with.
> 
> I will love you all to death if you give me feedback!


End file.
